


Curative

by Mhor



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cannibalism, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Gore, Graphic Description, Guilty Pleasures, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Love at First Sight, Old Fanfic, Original written in 2013, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Sexual Assault, Torture, Verbal Abuse, Violence, Walker OC, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:55:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 41
Words: 256,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mhor/pseuds/Mhor
Summary: Bitten and turned, she woke up after her death. She finds herself caught between the living and the undead.Surviving in the new world meant finding a way to protect herself against other survivors. The further she distanced herself from the living the more zombie-like she felt and the closer she got to them, the more vulnerable she was.Eventually, she joined the Atlanta survivors and escapes the city, hoping to find a place with them. Despite their acceptance, she realizes the 'cure' she was given was not permanent. Over time she feels the turn start and she realizes the threat she poses. Her hopes for a solution to her condition die slowly while she retreats from the group.WARNINGS DO APPLY! check tags carefully.This is NOT a slow-burn romance. It starts and it moves forward, more focus on the relationship.Early chapters are old! Originally published in 2013, but the quality of the later chapters improves.A revised version is being written
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Female Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. Infected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you for opening this story :)
> 
> As a fair warning, the early chapters are old. This story was originally published in 2013 when I started writing.  
> The later chapters improve in quality. I am working on revising the early chapters to raise the quality overall.
> 
> Until then, please be gentle I know the early writing is a bit rough around the edges!
> 
> Enjoy!

_**Unethical!**_ How _dare_ they say such things. That is what they called it after all, _unethical_. Like this world was _ethical_ to begin with! _  
_

He was fuming, his fellow scientists just didn't _understand,_ they saw the world through rose-colored glasses even while people ate each other. _**Hell**_ **,** even in the world before he would've been offended by his ex-coworkers refusal to realize the world they knew, the one filled with luxury and vanity, was coming to a devastating halt.

Whether it had been a fallout, whomever wanted to drop A-bombs on each other _this_ time, or commit mass genocide **_again._ **He wouldn't stand for it, he felt the pull of scientific discovery just _waiting_ for him, so close he could _**taste** _it. Yes, it is around a great learning curve, sure, but one cannot expect to gain so much without being willing enough to lose equally, if not _more_.

_**That** _is why he did what he did, after months of planning he turned the old useless basement in his home into a fully functioning high tech laboratory. So he could continue his research in _peace_ , away from those cowardice _scientists._ Who gave them the _**right**_ to question _**his** _techniques? And they had the _gall_ to call themselves _scientists_!

It was clear as day to him, they weren't real scientists. Merely crowd pleasers, here to say that they were trying to find a cure for cancer or AIDS without actually performing any _real_ tests to exercise their successes and their failures.

He swore the day the dead began to rise and eat the living, that he wouldn't let those bastards stop him from doing what needed to be done. Which was finding a cure and finding it _fast_. Before he fell victim to the undead like his ex-partners.

Their regards for human morality held them back from doing any _real_ good. Because of their weakness, he took matters into his own hands.

He boarded up his home very well, not a drop of sunlight could trickle through. Nothing could get in without his permission and nothing could leave unless he bid it to.

His basement, the laboratory, was so excellently stocked that he could continue his experiments for the cure to the undead condition, regardless of the outside world and what it was becoming.

Just as he was about to head back down to his lab, he stopped in the hall and looked lovingly at an eloquently framed photo of him, smiling brightly, with his ex-wife and his daughter, the background showed it was taken at night at a local carnival. The ferris wheel's lights casting rainbow lights on them as they commemorated their trip.

How he loved her so, once at least, a long while ago. She left him. _She_ left _him_. He understood of course, he was a very dedicated man, he should never have married in the first place; she would never stop disrupting him as he worked, a constant annoyance.

He realized that perhaps his outbursts were, at times, _too_ forceful. He remembered the bruises on her face when she left that day, the taxi pulling away from the house. She forgot something that day though, or maybe she left it on purpose? _**Possibly.**_

Their daughter stayed with him, his ex-wife had gotten pregnant accidentally. She never wanted to have a child within a year of their marriage, and neither did he.

Again, he found another being that seemed adamant about interrupting his work.

Though he wondered if he could blame her, she was such a young bouncy thing. He wasn't sure what to do with her most of the time. Locking her in her room didn't ever work, she was claustrophobic and would cry **_loudly_** when he did so.

He found the best way to get the young girl to leave him be was to push her away, force her to work until she was so exhausted she fell asleep the moment she hit her bed. Sometimes this wasn't enough, when she felt ill or insisted on them going out somewhere _together_ , he would resort to the same strong handed rebuttal that he had used on his ex-wife.

That _always_ silenced her.

Eventually, she became quieter and quieter, until she rarely ever spoke at all. A turn around he was most thankful for.

Soon, she'd began to sneak passed him to eat her meals, leaving and returning from school was like a mouse skittering across the floor; she got the message, he didn't want to be bothered.

He did feel a little remorse when he was particularly harsh on her, making her run away hurt or fearful. Those human reactions plagued him as much as they did every other human on the planet.

**_Well,_ **besides a select few had _disorders_ that was either mental or physical that made the normal, powerful human emotions disappear. He didn't think them _disorders_ , he found himself envious of them, so much so he had attempted once to try and find a way to hinder his human hormones.

Small answers, nothing solid and permanent. That idea, of lacking human empathy, was his own personal desire. One he would lock away until the day came that he found the secret to cure such ailments.

He nearly jumped back from the picture when he realized he was staring at it and holding onto it so hard he could hear the glass cracking. It was one of the only ones he was actually enjoying himself with his ex-wife and daughter. It was evident in the pictures that as time went on he grew colder and colder. He still had **_feelings_ **for his ex-wife and his daughter, but not enough to divert his attention from his work for more then a few moments.

Another reason he found to be most disturbing. Determination and desire were such basic human emotions, yet he welcomed them both with open arms. If he were to rid himself of care, compassion, hate, love, and anger, would he not also eliminate those heavily influential emotions that changed his life and drove him into the more successful parts of his career?

_**Bah,**_ he thought. Futile thoughts, useless, pointless, they did not further his goal.

But that which awaited him in his lab did.

He dropped the picture back onto the hall table carelessly as he neared the door that sealed his lab from the unsanitary outside world. Typing in the code, the door popped open and allowed him entrance. Closing it behind him, he heard the registered lock before descending the stairs and opening another door that lead into the white laboratory.

Freezers full of experimental specimens, shelves of tools, heavy stocks of backup supplies. He was well prepared for holding himself up at the undead apocalypse.

He slipped on his white coat, his old badge hanging uselessly on the pocket. With a loud _snap_ of the plastic gloves, he began his work.

Stepping to the center of the room revealed a cold metal table, resting on it was the scarred, injured body of a female undead. Her clothes torn and blood stained, her dead eyes glancing wildly around the lab, once he was close enough, the undead body lurched forward in an attempt to satisfy her insatiable hunger.

Instead of feasting upon his flesh, the dead creature was hindered by thick leather straps and a metal restraint over her neck. It couldn't move more then half an inch before the restraints pulled on her dead skin.

He was fiddling with a few vials, mixing something behind her head as he hummed a calming tune. The sound only made the creature try harder to reach him, to _feed_. He smirked knowingly as the restraints dug into the animated corpse.

"Hungry, my dear?" He mused, holding up a syringe to a bottle, seemingly checking the contents before continuing. "You should be, it has been quite some time since you last ate. Weeks in fact. Perhaps why you are so thin, yes?"

Now standing at her right side, he looked over the creature as it groaned and hissed. He was trying to assess the best place to administer this latest form of the cure. Or, at least, his latest _attempt_ at formulating a cure.

He raised his hands to her collarbone, the needle hovering over her neck carefully. Though the worn and damaged muscles kept tensing and twitching while he waited for the right moment to sink the needle in.

After a few minutes, he gained his opportunity and acted quickly, the needle caused the undead creature to hiss in protest. He assumed they did not feel pain, being that their bodies were pretty much dead as it is, that the nervous system was shut down too. He supposed that even the undead didn't like being stabbed or shot.

Another theory to be tested at a later date.

Once the syringe was empty, he pulled back and dropped the needle in a small platter of alcohol, watching as the dead blood seemed to fade away in the alcohol.

He had to wait forty-eight hours before knowing for sure if this cure worked or failed like the many attempts before it. So, as he waited for the results, he continued studying the undead condition before he hung his lab coat and left to rest until the next day, where he would start all over again.

* * *

When he woke, it was to the sound of the undead outside his home. The quiet groans of the dead world that he separated himself from, only about a foot of protection between him and the hungry dead that ached to feast upon his lively flesh.

He cared not anymore, the noise would only momentarily cause him concern. Though he had a gun in the off chance that the undead make it through his barriers. That was highly unlikely though, he had enough supplies to keep him locked up in his home for years so long as he rationed his meals properly.

As if on autopilot, he reached for his gun and dropped it absent-mindedly in his holster before rising for the day.

A quick breakfast, cereal, it kept well and lasted a long time. He ate it dry though, he had making the unfortunate mistake of not buying a substantial amount of powdered milk. Dairy products would spoil fast and he felt no need to bring anything into his home when the world was crumbling.

He read the same newspaper he did everyday, the last one published before the world ended. It spoke of the outbreaks across the world, the mass confusion, the body count, and how _unbelievable_ it all was.

Granted, he always figured that humanity would kill itself off long before a virus ever did.

Once finished, he set his bowl in the sink and took a long shower, preparing himself for his busy day, to focus on his work.

Readied, he began to head down into the laboratory again. Once the door opened, he swung his coat on and headed straight for his test subject, the infected woman.

He heard it then. A beeping sound.

At first he was confused, then alarmed, before staring long and hard at the heart monitor. The line, it jumped! It was slow, abnormally so. A human being couldn't survive with a heart beat so very slow.

It was painfully slow actually, every time a beep finally came by, he was sure he was imagining things. Then, after a few seconds of a flat line, there would be another beep. It was so faint, so shallow, that it was barely even there.

The undead was **_alive!_**

He ran over to her side, studying her face, hoping, _**praying,**_ for some kind of movement. **  
**

Then it happened. The mouth twitched back, not like when the undead would open their mouths to bite the living, but the corners of her mouth pulled back like someone _dreaming_ deeply.

"Are you awake? Are you _aware_?" His voice was pleadingly low. Could this have been a success? Did he find the cure? After all this time, all his hard work, and all his _**sacrifices.**_ Had he actually done it?

The heart monitor told him her heart was beating yet again, but no where near human rate. The irregularity made him concerned, what if she died before he got his answer?

He tapped her arm with his gloved hand and her skin twitched in reaction.

Her nerves, her muscles, they _felt_ his unanticipated touch and _reacted_.

She was **_alive._**

Dreadfully slowly, her eyes began to flutter open. The bright light of the laboratory blinding her as she tried to get her bearings. Her arms pulled weakly against her restraints, she wanted to shield her eyes, but felt herself being held back.

It was so _bright_.

He was acutely aware of every sound she made, every movement. He wanted her to wake up so bad it physically _hurt_. The anticipation built within his chest, he held his breath, and then she looked at him.

She _looked_ at him.

Her eyes were still rather milky, that was unlikely to go away, but she was still capable of sight, that much was clear. "Can you hear me?"

Time seemed at a near stand still, her eyes staring tiredly at his face. She heard his voice, it was almost as if she was underwater when he spoke. He kept trying to talk to her and every second that went by allowed her to listen better.

"Are you alive?" He stressed her for an answer, this cure could be temporary, it could last a few seconds or a few hours, maybe even days or months. He _had_ to know.

Even her blinking was in slow motion. She licked her lips, her mouth almost completely dry as she tried to swallow. Mustering up her strength, she turned her head towards him and, sure enough, the blinding light began to fade into barely tolerable blinding light.

A shadow was cast over her, it was a man, she could tell by the voice and the shape.

Five minutes passed before she could make out enough of the blurry figure to recognize his familiar face.

She smiled through her sleepiness.

"Dad?"


	2. Cured

He did it! He actually did it!

There, lying quietly on the table was once a walking corpse and now is living, granted, with such a slow heart beat that the heart monitor _barely_ picked up. She was _alive_ though and that meant his tests were valid.

"W-where... am I?" Her voice was little more then a whisper, her voice giving way to her dry throat and undead history.

He almost didn't hear her in his excitement, he had already began work on copying the formula that cured her and brought her back from the undead. Her just remembering him proved that it was all a success.

Though she was awake now, testing may become a little more stressful.

"Dad, what... what are y-you doin'?" Her head rolled slowly to the side to watch him work rapidly, his utter satisfaction was on display for any and all to see. He was smiling wildly, which concerned his daughter.

She'd not seen him look so happy in a very long time. It was extremely disconcerting. "Dad."

"Not now, I am quite busy." He replied swiftly as he crossed the room, messing with more things that only confused and worried her more.

Why was she strapped to a table like this? What had happened to her? This was clearly not a hospital, in fact, she vaguely remembered saying her goodbye's a little while ago... Or a long while ago.

 _ **My God.**_ Her eyes went wide, she had _died_. Literally _died._ How was she here now then? She mustn't have died then, it wasn't possible to be dead and then to _not_ be dead.

She thought she did, she had been bitten by one of the undead, she could _feel_ the bite on the nape of her neck, it didn't hurt, it was just there. Why wasn't she undead then? Or maybe she is and this is what it was like to be part of the zombies. Was this how it felt? Why was she aware? How come she could talk? She would've thought that she wasn't actually speaking had he not replied to her.

Yet, she was strapped down to the table, did that mean she was still undead? Had she been here while she was undead? There was memories in her head that she couldn't place, almost like she had the memories of someone else. She could vaguely remember snipping at him, trying to bite, she was just so damn _**hungry.**_ It hurt to even think about, to remember that the hunger was in her.

Now that she was more awake, she was _still_ hungry.

So **_painfully_** hungry.

"D-Dad, I'm... I'm just... _starving,_ so _hungry_. Can... I-I have s-something... _anything..._ please?" She begged, gasping as her voice was so damaged she could barely form the words she needed. Dry, coarse, and stuttering, she tired to force sound from her throat, but the longer she spoke, the harder it became.

"I said not now, I am busy." He didn't even look up to her, he seemed to be ignoring her completely. The sheer pain in her stomach and chest made it hard to even think without her mind returning to her hunger.

She tried to look around, figure out where she is and what her father is doing. He seemed unaware of her existence as he shuffled from place to place, messing with strange things and vials, she hadn't a clue what he was doing.

The lab was a decent size, she figured she much be at one of his work places. Possibly the CDC he used to work at or his basement laboratory. She never been down to the basement lab so she couldn't recognize it if she was in it, and the last time she was at the CDC... well, it was quite some time ago. Wherever she was, she wanted to leave. _Now_.

Her voice was used up, every sound she attempted to make now ended up disappearing before it passed her lips.

As time went by, various issues began to appear. Her body felt very light, her head began to throb, but not _hurt_ per say. The bite wound on her neck had loosened the skin there, the bite was still open, which caused discomfort, but no stinging pain. It was strange to feel a wound and feel nothing but the skin it broke.

Her hunger hadn't calmed down, she felt like she could devour all the food in the country, but he refused to sate her empty stomach.

She could feel her body a little better after about thirty minutes or so, she could feel the straps that held her tightly to the table, only her thin skin separated the leather strap from her bones. Her ribcage was constricted, her knees felt like they were being pulled down, and there was a metal restraint that held her head down. It was cold, but she didn't feel discomfort, only strain.

He approached her with a small tray of vials, half of them filled with liquids, the other half either completely empty or nearly empty.

"This, my dear, is the cure." He held up a vial, the burgundy liquid seemed flat and quite thick. He held it up in the light, examining the vial thoughtfully. "I used an experimental version on you, it was not hard to recreate the cure I gave you. I will need you for some time though, I must be able to document the progression of the cure in your bloodstream, find out how it is fighting the virus and if you recess."

She furrowed her brows, "R-recess?"

"Yes, I do not know if this cure is permanent. You may be alive for a short while before returning to an undead state. I am unsure if you will at all." He answered, unconcerned at her alarmed reaction.

"I... I w-was... undead?" She coughed roughly, her voice faded just about every syllable.

"You were, for quite some time. Which is why this cure is so promising, it has given you human-like awareness and control of your body, at least to a certain degree, after being infected for a prolonged period of time." He lowered a syringe to her arm, the needle resting lightly on the crook of her arm. "I must catalog your recovery... or your recession."

Her throat was tight, she didn't want to be undead again. That's what those memories were, they weren't someone elses nor an out of body experience, it was her time as undead that was very slowly coming back to her.

She tried to bite him, the hunger, the aching, the pain, her body was dying but she paid no heed, only wanted food and wanted it immediately. Her eyes stung, her body was starting to really return to its' living state.

He took instant notice of her returning human sentience. He inserted the needle, drawing blood from her. Her blood pressure was fatally low, her heart rate nearly non-existent, and her brain wasn't able to work as fast as usual.

In fact, when she tried to identify items or read labels, it would take her a good minute or so to read it or find the name. The syringe was already well away from her and he had begun working before she actually remembered what it was.

She felt so incredibly stupid.

The only sounds in the lab were those of her father working diligently and the gradually climbed grumble of her stomach. The initial loud growl from her stomach caused him to flinch and face her, as if he thought she returned to her previous undead illness. Yet there she was, watching him intently. She couldn't focus on anything but her stomach, the sounds demanding even more attention then the pain had been before.

Satisfied she hadn't turned, he continued his process. Mixing chemicals and recreating the cure he had used on her, it took a few hours to perfect the first version, which he stored away for later analysis.

Then, he began using that cure as a base for a better version, one that would hopefully make the infected test subject not just recover from their illness, but to restore the human body back to full power.

He realized he needed to test how well she was in control of her body, if she would still shuffle around lamely, if she was paralyzed, or if she could do anything a human could do normally; the restoration of the human being controlling their body again was a large part of the process. It was possibly second priority to actually returning the undead human back to being alive.

They had to be able to function properly, otherwise, this cure was also a failure.

He was so close now, he was about to make the breakthrough this infected world needed so desperately.

* * *

Days passed and her mind was still lazy, but her body was about forty-percent human functionality. She could move her hands and feet, the minimal amount of muscle left on her body responded to her demands and now she would wince when he drew blood or took tissue samples.

Clearly pain was dulled exponentially, but she claimed she could feel everything and as hours passes into days and days into weeks, the sense of touch and feeling was drearily making its' way back into her starving figure, now needles pinched, samples sting, and the chilliness of the lab crept up on her.

She was not keen on being strapped down for much longer, she was better and proved she wasn't about to recess at all. In fact, the infection, though strong and resilient, was just starting to fail against the cure he injected her with.

It had been two weeks, every second lasted minutes, minutes felt like hours, and the days felt like they never ended. She couldn't see the outside world, no sun or moon, she couldn't tell if it was midnight or noon. Unable to keep time, she preoccupied herself with trying to convince him to let her off the table, out of the lab, and back into her own bed.

Just like when she was a child, her constant complaints would ring in his ears and force him to respond whether he liked it or not.

Usually, he would muffle her with cloth or whatever he had on hand. Eventually though, he had to cave. Not only was her voice grating on his nerves and distracting him, but he also needed to see how well her motor skills were after so long of being undead and, when alive, lying on the test table.

Most likely she would be so weak she couldn't stand right, but to his surprise, when he finally released the restraints, she instantly jumped upright. Her head spun at the sudden movement, her body longed to be freed so bad that she couldn't stop herself when finally allowed to move again.

"Careful now, you are weak and your body needs to readjust to your weight. You might want some help." He grabbed two crutches, he couldn't risk her getting hurt right now. Not when he was about to finish the newest version of the cure, her progress _must_ be followed in full detail.

Breaking a weak bone or extensive bruising could cause complications. With her blood pressure weak and her heart beat so slow, she will never heal as fast as a normal human, but blood loss barely even affected her. She could lose pints upon pints of blood before feeling any kind of repercussion. It was exciting, would be beneficial to a living world, but not right now.

She took the crutches anxiously and carefully rose from the table. Her legs were so weak, but seemed to be steadier then he originally assumed they'd be.

Her steps were unsure but promising, with every brave step she proved that his cure worked better then he thought it had.

She was in near complete control of her body, there are clearly a few issues, but most of them would be solved by frequent exercise and movement. When her muscles strengthened, she would be able to walk like a normal human again. Maybe a complication here or there... but...

 _Wait,_ what is _that_?

She was favoring her left leg, not in pain or anything so dramatic, but more like she couldn't stand on it as well as she could the other.

He tried to think what could cause it, permanent brain damage? Spinal injury? Ligament damage?

Then, he remembered.

The day she was bitten, she was trying to run from four determined undead and, out of necessity, jumped from the lower edge of a third storey building. Her leg was injured, it was why she failed to keep up with him and how that ill creature sunk its' teeth into her neck.

It hadn't healed obviously, it hadn't the time to do so. Since she was capable of putting some weight on it, he knew that it must be healing now judging by the extensiveness of the original injury, a cracked femur bone in the left leg.

She would require a brace of sorts to walk on it until it healed itself.

It usually took a long time as is, but with her blood and heart rate, it would take nearly twice as long. The recovery could have up to seven to eight months for it to finally heal properly.

In the meantime, he needed to wrap it and brace her leg, so she could walk and he could continue on his studies of her motor skills. Her injury would hinder him if he didn't treat it.

So he put down the vials and ducked into a walk-in supply closet, he had a remedy for this.

She watched curiously as he dug around, searching for the leg brace and supplies. Soon enough, he reemerged and bid her to take a seat on the table again.

Hesitant but compliant, she set the crutches off to the side and sat dutifully on the table she had been previously strapped to.

She knew something was wrong with her leg, but she didn't know what it was. There was a dull pain in her left leg, in her thigh, but he seemed to know exactly what it was, so while she didn't trust him one bit, she needed help if she was going to walk right again.

The black brace was simplistic, it was hard to believe something so thin and wiry could hold her up. He pulled up a chair and sat on her left side, pulling a small side table up that carried a small assortment of tools.

A few of them surgical tools which made her eyes go wide. She couldn't feel extreme pain, but it still hurt a little and while an operation is excruciating as a normal, living and awake person, her body would feel a decent amount of pain, regardless of her usual resistance.

He didn't go for those tools though and instead began to wrap her upper leg.

When she looked down she realized why her leg hurt a little bit, there was bone stretching the skin, not breaking it, she could just see the bone beneath the surface.

He gripped her leg tightly, right over the injury. She hissed and he shoved the bone down, she groaned in pain as it snapped back in place, the throbbing became a sharp pain before subsiding. The pounding in her leg didn't stop, but it didn't hurt so bad anymore.

After he was satisfied with the position, he wrapped it up, the band going from above her knee to her upper thigh before he closed it and brought up the brace.

It was so frail looking, but he didn't show any concern so she supposed she shouldn't either.

The oversized brace rested on where her thigh met her hip and went all the way down to her foot. The metal bar on her foot showed that she could wear shoes without a problem, they just had to have a little bit of a sole.

He grabbed a pair of shoes, her shoes, and slipped them on her feet, tying the laces before allowing her to inspect the brace.

He took hold of a screwdriver-like tool and began tightening the brace on her leg until it held so firmly that she couldn't twist her left leg, only move it side to side and back to back. The knee bent, but it had never been used so it was a little stiff.

He stood, moving the chair and table away again. "Now try."

The brace felt like it wouldn't ever let her move her leg, but once she applied enough pressure the knee bent easily and her leg swung down and her feet met the floor again.

This time, she felt much sturdier. The brace did wonders and she could walk a few steps before having any problems at all.

"I'm turning in for the night." He put his lab coat back on the rack. "I will be back early tomorrow morning, I want to test your physical capabilities and resistances. Goodnight."

She snapped her attention up from the brace on her leg, he just shut the door behind him right as she began heading towards it.

Shaking her head, she sat back on the table. She wanted to leave this cold heartless lab so bad, her hunger drove her mad and the tests were beginning to get to her, they hurt more and more every day. Sometimes it's as simple as the sting of a hair thin needle, others it was taking samples from her skin or open wounds, causing them to pulse and ache more.

Resting her hands on her braced leg, she sniffled quietly. She never _hated_ her father, but she always felt like he was a stranger and she was his pet. Or his lab experiment.

Which, considering the latest developments, she was.

She had to leave, she **_had_** to. This lab was a prison, but she wormed her way out before.

She started her plan to escape, her father wasn't a _bad_ man... well, not as bad as some fathers out there. She just knew he was careless of her safety or comfort, he always had something to do, something to test, or to focus on. She was just caught on the bad end of the stick a few times.

Rubbing her sore neck, she laid back. In the next few days, she had to find a way out.

No matter what. She was so painfully hungry and though she wouldn't lie and say she hadn't wondered if her undead history allowed her to digest human meat, she immediately put the thought out of her mind.

But it was always there. In the darkest part of her head. He explained that the infection in her blood was purged, so she couldn't bite and expect them to turn, but various facets of her undead past still reared its ugly head and made her want to be violent and, at the same time, made her powerfully ill. Eating a human? Revolting.

She was just _so goddamn **hungry.**_

How the hell would she get out?


	3. Escape

It was a few more days before she was strong enough to even begin considering her escape plan.

The door to the basement was never locked, just shut, but she quickly saw that the door into the house was secured by a very strong looking security system.

She needed the code, it must've been at least five numbers long gauging from the sound of the buttons when she snooped on him the other night.

Unaware of how to proceed, she just nagged at him to let her back into the main house so she could rest properly without waking up stiff or sore. The table was amazingly uncomfortable and caused her great discomfort. If that wasn't enough, the cold of the lab made her joints even sorer.

He sternly denied, claiming that she couldn't leave this lab until he found a real cure.

She knew she wasn't cured right, it took so long to heal, pain was numbed a bit, she could be injured with minimal repercussions and though her body worked normally, she got a good look at herself in the lab mirror.

Her hair was very messy, dry and dead looking, her skin was slightly morbidly blue, and her eyes seemed dead or blind. There was a little bit of color behind the white iris, but nothing more.

She could see okay though, bright lights made her eyes sore and she was sharply aware of all sounds. It was like having some of her senses muted and others heightened.

All her five senses seemed scarred. She could barely feel anything when something touched her, even though she was growing more sensitive over time. Her hearing was excellent. Her sight better then it was before (as she wore glasses) but it still wasn't normal. Her taste was all messed up, she could lick her hand and taste her morbidity, but she didn't know what food tasted like yet.

He wouldn't _feed_ her. Said it was a test of her resolve to not willingly return to her undead condition.

She blinked. Standing at the door to the house and stared long and hard at it, hoping for something to show her the password so she can be free again. To be alive without having someone poking and prodding her.

She hated the needles and the tests and everything else about the lab, about her father. He never showed much kindness to her before, but this was going off the deep end. It almost felt like he was doing this on purpose, torturing her until he got a reaction that satisfied his curiosity. She was sore but not tired anymore, she never felt tired now. At first, waking up, she was exhausted. Now, she felt no fatigue.

Which was alright in her book.

After a few days of testing out passwords, she realized the alarms went off whenever she failed too many. She had two chances every night after he left, if she missed those, she'd have to wait for the next night.

It was like clockwork, she'd shuffle around the room, inspecting the medical tools while trying to keep her clumsiness with her braced leg to a minimum. She would often knock things over or break them until she got the hang of her brace.

Needless to say, he told her if she continued to do so, breaking things that is, that he would have to restrain her at night.

Out of the desire to remain free handed at night, she stopped moving around the lab for a few nights. Now, all she did was wait for him in the morning, endure the tests, and then, once he left, try her luck at the code.

She once set off the alarms, when he had rushed down to her to ask why she was inputting codes, she simply responded by saying she wanted a blanket, that it was cold and she was trying to get one.

He believed her, his supposed _genius_ hindered him from actually realizing what she was doing.

After so many failed attempts, she began to wonder how she'd ever escape. His arrogance would make it easy to trick him, playing into his idea that she wasn't very intelligent. Easy as can be.

The code was a different story, she could never get it. With every red light, she felt her heart sink further and further.

Until one night he had unexpectedly awoken to a noise downstairs, it was the undead banging on the walls and doors. They knew he was in there and continued to try and force their way in. At first, he worried they'd do it. The door shuddered under the attacks, the groans struck a kind of fear in his heart. He knew some day he would have to leave his home, but he didn't expect it'd be so soon.

With one undead came dozens, then hundreds, and soon, they could bang on the walls and doors with so much force, that the entire building shook at the abuse.

It was time to leave.

He grabbed his bags and collected his supplies, the defense he built around the house could withstand a great deal of damage before giving way, but there were just so _many_.

She heard the sounds of urgent steps, stomping around quickly. Unaware of the creatures that threatened her and her father.

Attempting another code only displayed red again and then, like her prayers had been answered, the keypad lit up it's own numbers. Almost too fast for her to notice.

One, thirteen, sixty-three.

 _Shit,_ it was her mother's birthday. That was the code? She never figured her father for a particularly sentimental man. Quite the opposite in fact.

The door swung open and she was face to face with her father again, he jumped in surprise, but then overlooked her. He practically _jumped_ down the stairs to reach the lab, she ignored him for now and held the door to the house open.

Glancing back, she heard the sounds of glass knocking together, some breaking, and a metal tray sounded like lightning as it hit the lab floor.

Should she go back to see what's wrong? Was he okay? Did he get bit?

Her heart lurched in her chest, there was her freedom, right there in front of her and she was considering heading back into her prison to see if the man who locked her up, who _tested_ on her, was _okay._

 _ **The fuck is wrong with me?**_ She groaned, he was her father, that's what was wrong with her. She _hated_ the thought of giving up her escape to help him, to _help **him.**_ The man who did this to her, who hurt her every day for the last... however long it had been.

Locked her _away._

_In a fucking basement._

With a loud sigh, she turned away from the door and headed back down into the laboratory. There, she watched him as he frantically dealt with his cures, specifically, the one he said was a vastly improved cure then the one he gave her. He said it made the patient nearly alive again, or it should anyways. It would bring back any infected, long term undead or short term.

She wanted to use it, so she could feel her own body warmth again, to have her eyes return to their original color, for her hair to look smooth and silky. She despised her morbid skin tone, the blue tint was accented by various parts of her body, like her collarbone, her shoulders. So many parts of her looked dead, inside and out, but she still _felt_ and she wanted to be normal again.

A dream probably.

"Th-here... somethin' I can... do ta h-help?" She stammered heavily, she rarely had a reason to use her voice lately and using it still made her throat feel swollen. She couldn't speak right, she knew that, but he understood her just fine. Even though he often ended up insulting her for her poor speech and English.

Which, like so many other things, she forgot how to do right.

"Dear," He stared, his hurried tone made her all the more curious. "If you are going to say something, I suggest you say it right. Otherwise, do not speak at all."

 _Just like that._ She sighed, his snapping shouldn't affect her anymore, after her life with him, the misery he insulted her with by calling her a retarded child. That she belonged in the special schools.

"However, there is one thing you can do for me." He continued, turning to face her.

She didn't really _want_ to help him anymore and while she did know the code now, which he probably didn't know she knew, she still couldn't bring herself to turn her back to him. Abandon him like her mother abandoned her.

No way she was turning into her mother.

"Carry this. We will be leaving shortly." He handed her a very solid looking case, one that weighed a ton and with her weak muscles, made her use everything she had just to hold it up.

She hadn't a clue how she would _walk_ with it.

A few moments passed and he was finally done, he sealed the cure he made in a combination locked suitcase. He gestured her to follow him and she did, not happily of course, but she still stayed at his back.

Once they were at the door, he inputted the code, opened the door, and she was met with her old home. The one she spent so many years in with her father, mostly hiding from him, but she chose to focus on the few joys she had here. Toys, TV, video games, homework; it all seemed so far away now, in light of recent events.

Like being her fathers' guinea pig.

_Bastard._

She growled and kept up with him until she heard the sounds of the undead trying to break their way in. Had he lured them here on accident? How did they know they were here?

A big gulp and she raced to catch up with her father, who headed to a back room of the house. She was confused, why were they in his study? It was a dead end, only the boarded up windows could be an exit, well, they could be if the undead weren't trying to shatter them.

He stepped up to the bookcase and yanked a shelf of books out, throwing them carelessly to the floor before reaching into the shelf and pressing a button hidden in the bookcase.

A hidden door on their left popped open, making her jump clean out of her skin.

"Hurry, we do not have much time!" He grabbed her elbow and dragged her along. She would've thought he was actually concerned about _her,_ for a moment she did think that, but then she glanced to the large suitcase she carried. He needed her to carry it because he couldn't, he wasn't thinking about her, he was thinking about the case.

That thought only served to drag her further down, she could never say that she felt great when he was around, but over the years, his influence since her early age made her begin wondering if he was right about her.

 _Nah, he's just mean. That's all..._ She couldn't convince herself, she was just about one of the undead right now, her heart, she felt it beat rarely, but it took so long that she'd always just think it was a figment of her imagination.

They rushed through the tight passage, his grip was bruising her arm and she knew from what he had told her before, that her injuries or any real damage caused to her body would take a very long time to heal. A broken femur bone only took, on average, five months to heal, but he had told her she'd be wearing that brace for _at least_ seven or eight.

Another thing she couldn't stand about being... what she is.

 ** _The hell am I?_ **She grimaced, she hadn't a clue. She wasn't really _living_ but she wasn't really _dead_.

So what did that make her?

Reaching a heavy door, her father pushed it open and her eyes burned, the light! That light was the sun! She didn't even think about it, when he told her they were leaving, she didn't even _think_ about seeing sunlight again.

**_It was fucking glorious._ **

The heat made her warm up, almost healing her cold and damaged body. Her eyes stung with tears, she was crying, not in pain or sadness, but pure unrelenting _joy._ She never felt so happy in her life. The sun was there, shining down on them. She stood and felt her body _drinking_ in the light.

She couldn't express herself, her tears and smiling face was her only reaction to being outside. The wind, the sun, the clouds, everything felt and looked so _alive_ that it made her feel alive too.

Then, a cold hand grabbed her roughly and yanked her along. Her father was confused at her display, but he didn't have time to question her actions and instead dragged her with him to the car.

Opening the passenger door, he threw her in, put on the child lock, and got in the drivers seat.

The car started up fine and there were only a few undead around.

At first glance, she saw her home city, it was lovely to see it again. The towers, the aquarium, the circus, the museums, the art; she wondered if she could see those places again, she never been inside any of them, but she loved the buildings and dreamt of exploring the amazing things, art, and creatures they all held within their walls. Like beautiful secrets.

Then, her eyes adjusted better to the light. Her distance vision wasn't great, but she could still make out some details.

And what she saw made her gasp, tears sprung to her eyes, this time in pain. They were driving passed the Georgia aquarium, which had shattered glass, water flooding the floors that she could see, dead fish, and undead roaming hungrily.

They drove passed many places, most of them places she wished she had the chance to see, to experience, but this world was not safe. The undead were _everywhere._

_**What had happened?**   
_

"Dad, where is everyone? Why are there so many infected?" Her eyes strained to see the buildings she was familiar with, all of them destroyed and every now and then the car had to dodge these massive holes in the streets, buildings that had collapsed in on themselves, craters made clearly by bombs.

"The outbreak took the city, the army fled, the military retreated, the whole world is like this." Shockingly, he had answered her. Which was very rare. She looked at him, the hurt evident in her eyes. She couldn't believe it, everything was gone? _**Everything?!**_

Impossible, it just couldn't be. There had to be people somewhere, cities full of normal people living normal lives with normal jobs. There just had to be, somewhere, _somewhere, somewhere, somewhere...!_

She cried, long and hard. Her sobs filled the car, she couldn't believe what he said. Life gone? The world over? Was there no hope? No law or government? She never thought she'd miss it, but there she saw a tank sitting in the middle of the street gaining rust. It was lifeless, dead bodies littered it and the ground around it.

Hearing the sickening crunch of bodies beneath the wheels, she became blank faced. She had no idea what to think, large wet tears streaked her face and she felt the pain of this knowledge bearing down on her, but she showed no emotion on her face. She was so shocked, so scared, so sad that she couldn't even formulate a response to all this death and destruction.

It was a little bit of driving before they arrived at a gas station. He wasn't getting gas, he was resting. Pulling out a map, he began to plan out their future.

 _Their future. Her future. **His** future. _A future with both of them, together, surviving. **  
**

 ** _No._ **She panicked, she couldn't spend her life with such a cold hearted, callus man. Even if he was her father. She'd rather die. Again.

"We should leave the city, it's dangerous here. Too many of those foul creatures." He hummed to himself, "Perhaps we can make our way out to farm land, possibly to Savannah. The islands out there could provide good protection against them."

She looked to the door, grasping the handle and pulling. It didn't open. She tried it again. "W-why won't... my door." She forced the words out of her mouth, it was difficult, but she was confused.

"Child locks, dear."

Glaring daggers at him, she shook her head. "W-... why?"

"For this very reason, you trying to leave. I cannot risk you being lost to the undead or to other people just yet, I still need you for my experiments. I am very close to discovering a cure that will return an undead back into the human they were before." He grinned at her, not in a comforting way, but his arrogance flowed out of his mouth. "After I have finished my researched and developed a cure, you may go."

That made her angry, she couldn't believe him! She couldn't believe herself! She came back, for _him?!_ What demon possessed her to do such a thing! He led her back into another trap, she felt such anger and hate towards him that she couldn't help herself.

She leaped at him, her history as one of the undead returned full force. She wasn't able to contain her hate or rage any longer, she was **_never_ **a violent person before, but something in her just _snapped._

And it was very unpleasant for him.

"Get off of me!" He cried, shielding himself from her sharp nails. She wasn't trying to bite him or claw him, she just wanted to _hurt_ him like he hurt her. Make him feel the pain she felt when he would beat her or the hunger she felt now, the excruciating hunger that undoubtedly made her so violent.

He threw his fist her way, it connected to the right side of her jaw, making her yelp in pain. She didn't relent though, she punched and scratched and did everything she could to hurt him.

Eventually, she grew calmer and calmer. Her hate subsiding into a tolerable rage and the marks on his neck, face, and hands made her feel so guilty. She never hurt anyone before, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Yet there it was, she'd attacked her own father, even though he was a pathetic excuse for one, it still made her feel like dirt.

"By God girl, what is wrong with you?!" He yelled, the back of his hand cracking against her face.

She couldn't stay, she couldn't. No matter what, that's what she had said, no matter what happened she had to escape him and his tests.

Leaning back, she kicked the window out. It took a minute, but it finally gave way.

"What are you doing?!" He grabbed her again, stopping her from escaping. "I said when I was done with you, then you could leave." He growled, yanking her shoulder back harshly. He was stronger then her and her brace made this next part quite tricky.

His hand was on her shoulder far enough for her to bite him, she knew she couldn't infect other people, the undead illness had been removed fully from her body. That just meant the bite hurt, but it wouldn't kill him. _  
_

She wondered that, if she could infect people by biting them, would she still have done so to him?

He gasped in pain, withdrawing his hand long enough for her to leap out the window. She removed the bag from her shoulders and got up to run. The brace, that damn thing, made it so difficult to move fast. She did her hardest, but he was quickly advancing on her.

Her eyes wide in fear, she turned a corner and faced dozens of the undead.

She paused, frozen in her spot. He saw and turned tail, he wasn't going to be dinner for her. He had the cure, he'd just use it on another one of the undead and recreate her results.

Surprisingly, they paid little to no attention to her. She was but a foot away from the closest one, who sniffed her and walked lamely passed her, following the sounds of her father sprinting back to their car and taking off so fast the wheel screamed in protest before he turned a corner and left her sight. She was stunned, breathless, _speechless_.

They all slowly shuffled away from her, to the sound of the car. It was strange seeing them like this, they didn't care she was here, they just left her standing there like she didn't exist.

Thoughts rushed through her head, were they tricking her? No, they weren't that intelligent. One of them came close enough to bite her and it just walked away, why would it do that?

What was going on?

She grinned, her time as part of the undead was paying off. This had to be part of it, they couldn't tell she wasn't one of them, they completely bypassed her without a care in the world.

With a hearty laugh, she realized she had done it, with the help of her undead comrades. She had escaped and she was able to walk the city freely because the undead don't eat other undead!

For a second, she frowned. She had been undead, but she was just barely alive now. Because of their acceptance or ignorance about her, the undead treated her no differently then another undead. It was a little unnerving... okay, it was extremely disturbing, to think of herself as being one of them. She hated that idea worse then she hated her father.

She is undead.

Did she eat like them? Did she eat humans too? She didn't really feel much of a desire to eat her father when she looked at him, well, she had done a few times in her early stages, but now she couldn't even consider it.

Speaking of food...

Her stomach growled something fierce, it made her double over in pain. The undead didn't even look back at her as she left their numbers in search for food.

She had to eat so bad, her body ached so bad due to her hunger.

"G-goddammit." She groaned, limping her way to the nearest stores.

She also figured that, if there were other people like her father said, or implied, then maybe she could find them. Join them. She just hoped they weren't cross with her past as an undead.


	4. The Voice

She rooted around the gas station they had stopped at, he was gone, thankfully, and now all she wanted is something to eat.

The convenience store was blessedly unlocked and the door wasn't boarded up like the windows. Signs and graffiti colored the store, a sign inside the window said:  
" _Come in and take what you need, no charge. Good luck._ "

She frowned at this, it was so hard to see this kind of hopelessness. The people who lived here must've faced such a terrible point to just start setting these signs up. The graffiti wasn't much better, with lines like " _God has left us to die"_ or " _No Hope._ "

Pushing the door open, she glanced around. It was dark, but the trickle of sunlight made it through the boards enough for her to see well. Then again, she didn't have much of an issue exploring the darker places of the store, her senses allowed her to move around freely and tell where everything is. Another useful trait from her undead history.

She approached the counter, she still felt the need to see if the owner was there. She felt compelled, like years of picking products, going to the counter, and paying for it was just too well ingrained in her head for her to not try and see if she still should pay.

No money though. She huffed, no one was there, it was silent. A thick layer of dust gathered on all the shelves, the floors, the counters, nothing was left untouched.

She wanted food, but she was having difficulty finding it. This place had been looted quite some time ago.

So she stood at the counter, her mind told her to wait for the cashier but sense told her that he or she wouldn't be coming. She still tried though, in the off chance someone was here and they required payment. She hadn't been in this strange world for long, she hadn't a clue how it worked.

"H-hello?" Her voice was coarse, it was a little painful to speak, but the sting of her dry throat and poor voice faded seconds after speaking.

Then, she lowered her head and closed her eyes, no one had answered. Perhaps this world was hopeless? If the world had truly been overrun by the undead, where was her place in it? She didn't have to try hard to survive, since the undead paid no attention to her and as long as she took care of herself, then she could live within the city.

She also wanted to leave Atlanta, it was a dark and foreboding place, she felt like something was about to happen around every corner.

It was beginning to become a little tiresome.

However, she needed food, a steady supply. She lived without eating or drinking _anything_ for over a month, usually people would give into dehydration or starve by now, this was most likely another benefit of her time as one of the undead. They didn't want to eat her, they think her one of their own, she was in a city that may have been looted pretty well, she was still sure she could find food and water.

She hadn't a clue how long she could go without eating, perhaps she never _had_ to eat or drink. This idea was brought on by the fact that, she is very _very_ hungry, but she didn't feel tired or nauseous as a consequence of her not eating or drinking.

It still hurt, but that wasn't enough to stop her from surviving or scavenging for food.

 ** _Scavenging._ **What a weird thing to think about. She never considered _scavenging_ anything before, nor looting or taking for free. Such new apocalyptic words that made her cringe.

Her eyes fluttered open again, she was looking at her hands resting firmly on the counter. The pain of hunger made her uncomfortable, but nothing else.

Snorting, she raised her eyes a little and caught sight of something most disturbing.

 _Hand prints._ They were on the opposite side of the counter, where she had not been. The dust was recently moved because she could see the particles in the air still flying around.

Someone was in here _with_ her.

That shouldn't have scared her, but somehow, it did. Someone was in here and didn't answer her call. She immediately thought they intended to hurt her, she was always a fearful person, never rash or very loud. Lately she seemed to have a little more backbone, like when she attacked her father, but nothing really came of it.

She didn't feel like the attack was her decision, she felt _hungry_ and violent. She wanted to hurt something, some _one_ , and he was the unfortunate recipient. It felt like something took over her head and body, something that told her, no _demanded_ _,_ that she fight, _feed_ , hunt. It wasn't a pleasant experience and one she hoped to forget soon.

Then again, right now, she felt like she could really use that little voice in her head that told her to fight.

"I... I k-know s-s-someone is t-there. C-come out!" She tried her hardest to sound intimidating, like she was armed and dangerous. She was keenly aware that she sounded more like a frightened child with a speech impediment then a hardened survivor.

She heard a noise, it was to her right, behind the counter. Near the back door. She feared that, if this person be dangerous, she should run now, hide in the undead hordes, but if this person was a good person, a survivor who could help her find out what was going on better, then she wanted to speak with him or her.

She took cautious steps towards the opening in the counter, sucking in a deep breath, she leaned through and caught sight of the person.

It was male, a large looking male. He was thoroughly intimidating, he was succeeding at scaring her without even doing anything.

Well, except for pointing a gun at her. "Shut the fuck up, bitch. There's a ton o' those bastards outside and I ain't gettin' killed 'cause some dumb broad can't keep her fuckin' mouth shut."

She snapped her mouth closed, he stood up and walked towards her. "I-I-I... I w-w-was jus-s-st tryin' ta' f-f-find food." She was scared out of her mind, her already poor speech got worse as her fear of this man grew on his approach.

"The fuck is wrong with you, huh?" His glare looked like enough to kill her. She felt her body going numb as his eyes roamed her features. "You look like one o' 'em."

She raised her brow, one of who?

He rolled his eyes, "You look like those zombie bastards. You bit or somethin'?"

She shook her head, thankful that she was wearing a large shawl over her shoulders that covered the bite mark on her neck. She knew enough to recognize that bites mean you die and you turn, so she wasn't about to let him know.

"Good, more for tha' boys." He grinned wickedly at her, she didn't know what he was talking about or what he was doing when he stepped even closer to her, but she got the idea that it wasn't good. "Ya' ain't the pretty, that's fer sure, but a woman is a woman an' we're achin' for one."

"Git a move on it, gonna' bring ya' to the others, let them, heh, blow off some steam." The cold gun met her forehead before he grabbed her and dragged her with him, the barrel of the gun firmly on the back of her skull. She didn't like this, not at all. Who knows what kind of people existed in this twisted world, with no law to reel in the bad and no one to protect the innocent, she began to shake under his grip.

He dragged her out of the convenience store, shoving her ahead of him. It was mostly quiet, the horde was following her father's truck, not this strange man.

She pulled the neck of her jacket up and situated her shawl better, the collar of the jacket and the shawl both covered her bite well enough. Unless he removed both and her shirt, then no one could tell she'd been bitten.

"Saw ya' wit' that guy. Where'd he go?" He was going to interrogate her, he wanted to know where her father was headed and, while she held no qualms about giving them this information, she honestly had no idea where he was going. She didn't listen to him when he was talking about moving on.

"I-I don' k-know." She felt like she was being strangled, her fear welled up her throat, causing her voice to come out little more then a pained whisper.

"He jus' up an' left ya', huh? Dat's cold." He was smirking, she knew he was more then happy her father, another man who could've potentially fought this man off, was gone.

What the hell was he going to do with her?

A few streets down revealed a barricaded building, the minimal amount of undead shuffling around made him anxious to get back to shelter, but the bodies on the ground made her shudder. A few of the bodies didn't even look remotely undead, not at any given point in time. Some had their hands bound, others displayed many signs of being beaten.

She became antsy, she didn't want to end up like that. She wanted to live!

Freezing in place, the man pressed the gun harder to her head. "Better git' a move on it, it won' bother me ta' shoot ya' right here."

"What..." She licked her lips, "W-what are y-you gonna'... gonna' do ta' m-me?" Her eyes were wide and focused on the bodies at her feet, some of them had been moved and stacked to the side, a small pile of burned bodies to her left, and a few left carelessly on the street.

With another shit eating grin, he leaned in close. "Been a long while since tha' boys had a good lay, girl." Her head snapped to him, she shook her head. "N-n-no, w-why would... w-would you d-d-do t-this?"

He now just pulled her along with him, her resistance did nothing to stop him. "Havin't ya' noticed? World gone to shit, girl, might as well have some fun before we all git' bit."

They neared the building, he yanked the door open and forced her inside. Turning around he barred the door with a large wooden board.

"Hey boys! I brought ya'll a present." He holstered his gun and took hold of her arms and pulled. "S-s-s-stop! P-p-please!" She cried, tears forming in her eyes again. She'd just gotten to touch the sunlight, to breathe air again, and escaped from her father only to be taken captive by a rapist and his revolting allies?

She tried to fight back, to run back to the door, but once he got tired of pulling her along, he just bent down and threw her over his shoulder.

She watched the beams of sunlight muddled by the dirty door fading away in the distance, she didn't want to leave the light, she loved the sun. She knew what was waiting for her inside this building with this disgusting man, but she didn't want to face it. She wanted to imagine she wasn't there, that she was back in the light, bathing in the sun.

When they descended into the dark building, he opened another door, took her inside and shut it. No more sunlight, no more fresh air, no more freedom. Just pain, she heard the men cackling, each of them grabbing, groping, and touching her as she was dropped to the floor.

There was four of them, none of them looked particularly friendly. She just wanted this to be over, to return to the sunlight.

So that's what she did, she dreamt of the light, of the warmth on her cold skin, the pure joy she felt when she was finally free. Something, anything, to distract her mind.

* * *

Four days passed before she felt like being aware again, she wanted to know what was going on, to see the damage caused.

This survival thing was harder then she thought. She thought that because of her time as one of the undead, that she would be better suited for this world then most, because the undead didn't bother her.

However, this also came at the expense of living in an apocalypse where humans could do as they please and face no punishments. She was both undead and living, she could pass for either, her undead appearance wasn't pretty, but she thought that, if she had come across bad people like the ones that had tied her up now, then her appearance would be enough for them to leave her be.

Unfortunately, the undead cannot speak and talking to that man was very possibly the worst mistake she ever made. Hell, all this was a major mistake. She couldn't stand being here, the pain that burned through her body held no restrictions and they had thankfully not removed her jacket, but they tore her shirt open and her bra.

She was partially naked, her pants unzipped and unbuttoned rested lowly on her hips, almost reaching the point of being indecent, and she was unable to zip up her jacket to hide her abused body from these vicious men.

Her hands were bound behind her back, but the rope was loose enough for her to hope that she could wiggle her wrists free. Possibly even make a run for it.

Then she looked down to her brace, they had not damaged it any, but she was unable to run from them as per her intentions, instead, if she wanted to be free again, she would have to outsmart them.

That didn't seem hard being that they were just arguing over the ' _spoiled_ ' powdered milk, that it would get chunky and sour.

She'd have laughed had her mouth not been taped.

Just like her father, she needed to use the undead to stop them from following her. Only problem was, a few undead wouldn't stop anyone, a dozen would make them think twice, but a horde? They would run for the hills.

She listened into their conversations, a few focused on a large number of undead roaming the East streets, that they'd pass in a few days or so. She took this as her opportunity. She didn't know when the next horde would come waltzing by, by then, it could be too late. She could be dead.

All she had to do is wait for them to go to sleep and make a bee line for the horde. She'd have to work fast and quiet if she was to make it.

She was able to slip out of the rope after a few hours of work, the rope cut into her skin and the little amount of blood that began to soak the ropes made it easier to remove her hands.

Once that was out of the way, she waited to see the man on watch. Thankfully, after the others go to bed, the first watch is covered by the smallest of them all, which she was extremely happy about.

He paced around the floor before leaning on the door frame and he stared at her, his eyes bore into her skin and made her uncomfortable, but she knew that if she was to reach him, knock him out or at least silence him somehow, then he'd have to be close to her and she couldn't be seen doing this.

Taking on the worst role she could think of, she played _slut_. It was like playing dead, but it made her sick to her stomach, having to resort to this in order to get passed them.

She turned to him, displaying her chest to him, licking her lips, and giving him a _come hither_ look that made him jump. He was instantly on her, groping her roughly as she waited for the right moment.

This person, this sneaky, violent person was not her at all, she wouldn't know what to do in this situation. If she'd been captured and raped as these men have done before the apocalypse, then she would've cried and begged for her life.

So far, the only thing she'd done up to this point was cry as they violated her at first, then, after hours of the pain, she stopped and remained silent. There was no one to fight for her, no prisons to hold criminals, and no law enforcement to save her.

She'd have to do this herself.

The voice returned, the one that sent her into a frenzy when her father trapped her in the car. It was not a friendly nor kind voice.

" _It wants to hurt you..._ " She listened attentively, " _Hurt him._ " _  
_

He unbuckled his pants and she took the opportunity to carefully reach around him, he couldn't see her hands, he was too preoccupied with undressing himself.

The gun was in his holster and right as he was about to fulfill his primal needs, she pulled the gun out and put it to his head.

He stopped, dead stopped and looked to the gun. His breathing became erratic, he was scared she'd shoot him. She would've if the sound of a gun going off would not have alerted the other men, but sadly, it would. She couldn't pull the trigger, but he didn't know that.

He swallowed, nervous, as she rose from the floor, bringing him up with her. "T-t-t-to the e-exit." She stammered quietly, he didn't seem to notice her stutter and instead complied with her demands. As they passed a table, she caught sight of her shawl and grabbed it before leaving the room with the man at gun point.

Once they were at the door, she made him remove the bar before knocking him over the head. He was unconscious and now she had a weapon.

Fixing her apparel back up, while her shirt was useless, she just zipped up her jacket and threw on her shawl. She opened the door and faced the outside again, it was fresh air though, the rotting corpses around her made sure of that, but outside was outside and she was overjoyed to return to it.

The sound of the man's body dropping to the floor in a loud thump must have awakened his partners, because she could hear them inside calling out for the man. "Yo, Gage, man, where you at?"

She had to hurry, she had to leave now before they found him and chased after her.

The brace served to hinder her speed, but she could make it. Just as she heard the door being slammed behind her, she tried to go faster. The East streets, she saw a sign pointing her in their direction, but the gradually increasing sound of footsteps made her very worried she wouldn't make it.

Finally she heard the sounds of the horde, their shuffles, groans, and moans directed her to them. They wouldn't hurt her, but the men behind her, if they chose to continue following her, would not be so lucky.

"She's headin' straight for those undead bastards!" One exclaimed to his partner, the two just slowed down and watched as she ran into the horde, disappearing in the multitudes of animated corpses.

If they had any sense, they wouldn't try to get her.

She heard them making complaints, saying she was suicidal until she turned around to wave, showing them that she had made it and they failed. Almost a _if you want me, come and get me. I dare you._

They turned around, obviously shocked by her ability to walk with the undead without them eating her, even they knew they couldn't get her back. With that in mind and the noise they made before, the horde began to turn and head down the street with the men.

She heard them cry out, telling each other to run as the horde advanced on their base. They had a car and were able to speed away from the horde before they devoured them.

However, she heard the sounds of someone screaming, the man she'd knocked out, Gage, they left him behind and the horde had reached the building.

" _It suffers, good._ " Her eyes stared off into nothingness. " _Listen to the screams._ "

After a few minutes of waiting, she looked up to the moon, she couldn't remember how to tell time from the position of the sun and moon, but she figured it was about to be morning, judging from the pink and orange light behind her.

She had to move now, had to keep going. This time though, she'd take care of herself, fight, she wasn't going to be a victim again. She was physically weak, her time as one of the undead caused her to weaken, the lack of blood supply through the body made her even weaker, and she couldn't very well overpower another human, they were capable of much more strength then her now.

She'd have to play into her ability now, move near a horde, save ammo until absolutely needed, and never, ever approach another human.

The sun came up and she soaked in the light again, how she loved the sun. It was beautiful, comforting, and living. Possibly the best thing on this planet anymore if the whole world succumbed to this infection. The sun would outlive them all, it was empowering for her.

And yet, after a few hours of mulling on her escape, the abuse they inflicted on her, and her holding a gun to a man's head... She had to wonder what was going through her head, she'd never willingly hurt a soul.

Now all of a sudden she was swift and capable of fighting, she felt things she never felt before. Like unabashed rage, her hate grew in size every minute. Every time she looked at the abandoned city, saw the mutilated bodies, or saw the hordes of undead and forced herself to remember that each and every last one of them was human at one time or another.

Human. Alive. With feelings and families.

How could she, a cured undead face this world like it is now? She'd never done anything wrong in her life, she never cheated, assaulted, or stole a thing in her life, but here she was holding a gun and coming to terms with using it on another human being.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She kept hearing a voice in her head, telling her to fight, to bite, to claw, to punch, to _kill_. This voice would disappear most of the time, but it would return full force when she faced danger.

Those rapists, after they used her, this voice became louder and angrier. She had no idea if it was the rape that set it off or the pain of her hunger still.

When her father told her he had more tests to do on her, to torture her more, that voice screamed at her to show him what she could do, show him that she was _hungry_ and that he should fear _her_.

This voice was becoming her greatest concern, she never knew it when it was happening, but sometimes the voice would tell her to go in another direction, to find more food, to feast.

She didn't want to hunt, she wanted to leave this part of the city and hopefully find something to snack on.

That voice whispered in her ear, she was calm now, nothing was trying to hurt her now, yet she listened to the voice and followed its' instructions. It wanted to follow smells and sounds.

 _Gunshots_. She stood still, listening as the shots popped her ears, it was close.

And the voice wanted her to find the source.

" _We are so hungry, we must feast... One of them, a living, is nearby. Hunt it down, stop your pain._ "


	5. A Passing Glance

It took a little while before she reached the area were the gunshots were fired, this was confirmed not by seeing the person who fired, but by the undead who laid on the gravel road with a bullet hole in its' head and blood still seeping through it as its' body twitched lifelessly.

Fresh kill, she thought, a human was nearby.

On cue, she heard them.

"Come on Glenn, we gotta' go! Now!" It was a feminine voice calling out to her ally, but she wasn't very interested in them, the Voice was. It wanted to see them, it wanted to hear them, to _taste_ them.

She shook her head roughly, the fuck was she thinking? They were human! Perhaps she was losing her head, after so much she wouldn't be surprised. Her body ached and ached, it wouldn't stop and her hunger was increasing. This was not a good thing.

Now, she reverted back to her normal self. She was utterly shocked at her thoughts of eating a human, she hadn't thought about eating people since she was first cured.

And she was hearing a voice too?

She was going crazy, the depression of the world around her, her father's tests, the men who raped her, it was all pressuring her delicate psyche. Her mind was snapping, she'd lose herself completely if she continued on doing this.

She had to find a way to resist these dark thoughts, cannibalism is not something she had _ever_ thought she would do. Her stomach said otherwise, the Voice in her head told her it didn't matter, and her conscious was begging her to keep control over these angry and violent thoughts.

Looking behind her, she noticed the horde heading towards where the sounds came from, the horde she had disappeared into only a few hours ago when those rapists chased her.

"Almost there!" A male voice, it was strained, like the person was lifting something heavy.

She didn't want to fall into another captive situation with some violent and murderous humans again, she wanted to leave them behind and find something to eat.

 _Why the hell haven't I eaten yet?_ She rolled her eyes, she was beginning to grow curious about the humans in the alley just ahead of her, but she, as she promised herself before, she would _not_ be a victim again. The Voice told her that she would never be, that so long as she listened to it, it would guide her to where she needed to go to stay safe.

It was talking to her now, repeating nothing but _food, food, food, food, food._ It was disturbing at first, but then she ignored it.

She peeked around the corner of the alley, watching a human man climb a fire escape up to a blonde haired woman who grabbed his hand and helped him up. Once on the fire escape, they both laughed, exhausted from the days' events. They brushed themselves off and turned to climb the stairs higher on the fire escape before they crawled in through an open window.

She lost sight of them, which was a good thing for her. She didn't want to be caught again. Correction, she _wouldn't_ be captured again.

Weak, hungry, but she wielded a gun. Sure, she'd never fired one before, but she knew that even a misfire would hurt anyone who threatened her. She would've practiced with it, but she didn't have much ammo and wasn't about to waste it all on practice.

Satisfied the humans were gone, she felt it safe enough to continue on her path.

The Voice wanted her to follow them, ambush them, then _eat_. All she could do is shudder at the thought of eating humans, it was such a revolting thought that she had a hard time believing it came from her head. In reply to this horrific thought, she whacked her head hard, winced, and realized that her father was right the entire time.

She wasn't very bright, was she?

With a lame groan of hunger, she walked down the road, ignoring the undead who sniffed her and then continued on their way like she wasn't even there.

What a good form of insurance, undead wouldn't attack her, she'd be safe so long as she dodged into a horde and hid there. Granted, they could probably still shoot her if they wanted to, but that would attract a horde and, well, humans and undead are not docile to each other.

She was walking passed the building the two humans had climbed into when she looked through the window and saw the woman and the man talking to each other in whispers.

Ducking behind a wall, she turned around and headed into the alley they had been in.

There were no windows back there so she could walk on without being interrupted.

That is, until the undead horde began converging on the humans position, it was like watching stealth warfare. The undead remained quiet, as if they knew making a sound would alert their human meals. They bumped into one another before she watched the first one pass the alley mouth.

She may be terrified of humans now, their violence making her want to keep a gun in between them and her, preferably the gun be in her hand, but she couldn't let them die.

The Voice told her to get to them before those other hungry creatures did and while she wanted to do just that, she didn't agree with the idea of eating them afterwards.

Her conscious came back in a hurry, telling her that she could save them and even if they weren't good people, she wouldn't regret anything. Better to try then not at all.

Who knows if these humans had families waiting for them? What if they were scavenging for them? Could she really let the horde of undead eat them alive when there was a chance that they had loved ones waiting for them, and even if they didn't, that they were living and worthy to continue on living. The question ate at her, ground into her head.

She couldn't _not_ help them. They'd be eaten alive, humans eaten alive. And she had the power to stop it.

Not stopping it would be just as bad as her eating them herself.

Her shoulders slumped and she heard the horde stepping on broken glass, they were almost there. No sounds from the humans yet, they hadn't been eaten nor had they noticed the undead slowly approaching them.

She ran back down the alley as fast as she could, melding with the horde before coming back up to the front of the building. The first undead of the horde had already made it inside and they hadn't the faintest.

The Voice returned, it was growling desirably at them.

" _Feed, they're so close._ " It made her flinch, she was so hungry... " _Sink your teeth into them, rend their flesh. Sate your hunger and end your pain._ "

It wasn't angry like when those people hurt her or when her father locked her up. It was different, it was longing. Looking at the humans just made the Voice louder and louder, when she approached them, it was just below screaming at her. Hunger, pain, food, bite, it spoke quickly, its' words running together to where they were almost unintelligible.

She hurried though, ignored the loud Voice and they caught sight of her.

Again, her appearance was undead-like so they prepared themselves.

"H-h-hold on!" She raised her hands in defense, they were shocked to say the least. Their eyes wide and frightful as they stared at her and the horde gathering behind her. "R-run! Now!" She cried as loud as she could, they seemed to understand and turned to run.

The guy however, stopped and turned around. He offered a hand. "Come on!"

She shook her head, she wasn't going with them. Humans were cruel, not worthy of her trust or her life. "G-go."

His brows raised as the undead neared her back, he stepped forward before seeing the undead step around her. If it was possible for his eyes to get bigger, then they did. He was speechless as the undead passed her by without so much as the smallest consideration of her.

Gesturing him away, he did so this time and followed the blonde haired woman out the back of the store.

She walked with the undead, stepping in front of them and holding her arms straight out to the sides and tried to slow down the undead. It worked well enough, but they were still moving forward. Slower then they would've been shuffling to chase down the two humans, but it would give them enough time to leave the area. To survive.

Once she reached the back door, she closed the door and shoved a bunch of trash cans in front of it. It would slow them down, but not much and not for long.

She caught sight of the humans who seemed hesitant to leave her with the herd of undead.

The man approached her again, there were no undead in the alley so he felt fine backtracking without losing much time. "Come with us." He held out his hand again, she only recoiled and shook her head.

"N-no." She wasn't going to change her mind. Humans were not her friends. She couldn't go with them. "Go a-a-away. G-get out of h-here." Her hand hovered over the gun in her pants.

He seemed to notice this and backed away slowly. People at the end of the world were strange, some of them witnessing terrible things. He figured she was one of these people who couldn't bring themselves to trust anyone anymore.

Understandable, looters, plunderers, all around bad people roamed the apocalyptic world. He just didn't want to leave her here with a horde behind her, and while he did notice the undead paid her no heed, logic told him that once they reached her, they would eat her.

A painful death that he didn't want anyone to face.

"I can't just leave you here, the city's dangerous to be in." He sighed, "Just come with us, we have food, shelter, and people who watch out for each other. They're good people."

"Glenn!" The blonde behind him called out quietly, "If she doesn't want to come, then we can't make her."

"I know, I just... don't want to run away and abandon her here!" He argued, glancing to the woman and shaking his head tiredly. "Look, she helped us out. I don't know how she managed it, but I don't care about that." He turned to her, "I only want to help you."

The Voice told her that they were lying, that they'd hurt her like the last few humans she was with had done so. She couldn't possibly accept the offer, it was too risky.

She shifted uncomfortably, the sounds of the undead banging on the door startled them all.

"We have to go, now Glenn!" The woman grabbed his arm and tried to pull him with her. He stepped back but didn't look away from her. He knew she looked like one of the undead, maybe why they didn't attack her earlier, but all he could think of is her being left alone out here, having to deal with hordes of the undead and whatever else came her way.

He would do everything he could to convince her.

"Come on, it's not a long walk back to camp. The people there are nice, they protect each other, we can help you, protect you too." He pleaded, it was extremely rare for him to find other living people in the city, the few he did come across were either unfriendly, _very_ unfriendly, or in a small group.

However, this far into the apocalypse it was highly unlikely for him to see a living person, much less one that was friendly.

"Please, just come with us for a little while, meet the group, if you don't like it then you can leave whenever you want. We won't stop you. Just give us a chance." The woman understood his attempts to get her to follow them, to help her, but the blonde could see she wasn't going to change her mind any time soon.

With a slight shake of her head, she urged them to leave again. "C-can't, have ta' s-s-stay." She cautiously pushed him with his friend, "Y-you need t-t-to go now."

Her throat was tight, constricted and pained now. She couldn't utter another word no matter how hard she tried, the difficulty of speaking was lessening a little bit, but her voice was still sensitive.

Accepting her rejection he turned and left with the blonde, the two of them making their way out of the alley and back to their camp, wherever it may be. She wondered briefly if he was telling the truth, if their group was made of good people unlike the many people she had faced in the last few weeks.

Her father, those men, what was next? The undead were her only allies, their great numbers protected her. She liked it, she felt safe with them.

The Voice told her that they would always work together to reach their food, that together they made a formidable force unlike a few wandering around alone, they posed no threat to a human with enough intelligence to defend themselves.

The safety of their numbers made her feel better, when she traveled with them she relaxed and felt no need to fear what was around the next bend. Any human who sees such a large number of undead wandering the streets would run away, no matter how many weapons they had or how good they were at killing the undead.

When she felt they were far enough from the undead, she left the alley and wandered the city. She was so _hungry_.

She dreamt of food, broccoli, apples, chocolate cake, the delicious things that she used to spoil herself with when the world was normal. Now, those foods seemed almost ethereal, like they were the luxuries of a fantasy world. Pure fiction, but lovely to think about.

She smiled, this city was hers now. She could survive it, after everything she'd been through to be here, in Atlanta. The undead didn't concern her, but the humans would be forced to out run them, to do whatever they deemed necessary to survive.

That was fine and all, but with a gun at her side and the undead hordes as her allies, a wave of relief washed over her. She had helped someone today, her history as part of the undead came in great handy.

She couldn't imagine what would've happened without her previous... _life._

In fact, she realized that her ability would be of great use to the humans surviving in this world. She could help the good people of the world, those left over by the infection.

Like Glenn and that blonde woman, they weren't _bad_ people, just survivors trying to make a living.

With a bright grin, she gently buried herself within an immobile horde, they were just standing around doing nothing. She took a seat on the side walk and stared at the sky.

She could help people, good people, she loved life and when she awoke from being... undead, she came to see true life, to respect it and care for it. Life was amazing, she didn't want anyone to die.

That wasn't the kind of person she was, the Voice was dark and arguably evil, but she wasn't inherently so.

She'd help where she could, everyone deserved a chance at life.

Laying on her back, she stared at the passing clouds. She was happy again, blissfully happy. She wondered momentarily that if she were to find a guitar that she'd be able to play it around the undead without them becoming too interested in her.

Then she realized the chance of finding a functioning guitar was extremely low, but it wouldn't stop her from trying.


	6. Last Ones Standing

She'd been on her own for a few more days, Laura missed that little interaction between her and Glenn. He seemed nice, she wasn't quite sure about people though. Especially not after those men.

However, she did enjoy being close to them if but only for a few minutes.

She continued on with her life, opting to ignore almost everything else in the desolate city. The ruins of buildings that were still so fresh in her mind, they'd always be busy, people flocking into them to enjoy whatever was inside. The beautiful creatures of the ocean, a man taming tigers and doing death defying acts, or simply enjoying true art.

Which she was passing now. The High Museum of Art, it was a large building, she had actually been inside it before. It held wonders from dinosaur bones and even had Starry Night by Van Gogh before. There were many things she remembered about the museum.

She approached the building, she had an image of the white shimmering building in her minds' eye, but what she saw was drastically different. It was worn, unkempt, there were a good deal of things marring it's once flawless walls.

With a sigh, she passed it by, trying to keep good memories about these places that once brought joy to so many people. She never had any real friends as a child, being shy never won anyone any awards, but she loved these buildings and the many things inside them. For a few hours spent inside their walls, everyone around her was her friend. The building was a better friend to her then anyone else had ever been.

She grimaced, that was a depressing thought.

Pressing on, she would pass by a few more buildings like that, her dying friends. They were so uncharacteristically quiet, the only sound in the entire city were the birds and the occasional shuffling of the undead.

It was so strange looking at her beloved city collapsing in on itself like this. The holes where mass damage had been done, the buildings around them would be shattered like they were as delicate as glass. She avoided those streets, it looked like if she were to breathe on them wrong, more of the buildings would come down on top of her.

Since meeting Glenn and the blonde woman, she was determined to find new life, wherever it may be hiding. Their appearance just went to show that people could survive in this difficult world, even in this dead city. If they could do it, perhaps there were others?

So she scoured the city day and night, just looking for more life or any signs of people in general. New or old. She didn't know if she'd actually do anything about them, maybe she'd just stare at them like an endangered species, or she could help them like she had with Glenn and the woman.

But what were to happen if they ended up being just like _them_? What if they were vile?

She steeled herself, those were bad people, not everyone was like that, but she still felt scared at the idea of being trapped again. She wasn't strong enough to fight people off, she'd been starving and lost most of her previous human strength. Granted, she was never _strong,_ yet she had never been this weak. Her condition made her even more so.

No matter what, she'd help those she could, but if they tried to hurt her like those men did, she would do what she needed to so she would never face a dark room or the pain again. She may be weak, but she wasn't going to be the victim again.

It wasn't until the forth day searching that she came across signs.

She could hardly believe it when she saw it. She had entered an old abandoned grocery store, the shelves almost cleaned out completely, but there was a fresh undead corpse, the blood still pooling out around the crushed skull.

There were bloody shoe prints leading away from the corpse, she followed them closely.

The excitement of finding people blinded her to her area, she had left the store and gone down a tiled sidewalk in a small high end marketplace. The dry ground started to clean off the blood from the person's shoes and dried out the blood on the ground. Quickly, they faded away.

Looking around, she didn't find much, but had to guess, from the shoe prints that the person was still heading straight, as there wasn't many places to go other then directly ahead. She took a guess and kept going forward, but she kept her eye on every passing door and every last possible way they could've gone.

There were so many variables, they could have gone anywhere and she'd never be able to check so many places in dozen or so doors could actually be where they were holding out at or they could've found a hole in the fence to her left and went through. Maybe they kept going down the road and left to another part of the city completely.

So many options and not enough time to figure out which was the right one.

Instead, she stopped looking, for now, and stopped in front of a store that had a painting outside of it, flat on its back on the ground. It was so badly damaged, the top right corner torn, the paint unprotected from the weather, it was losing it's color and shape. It looked particularly sad.

She looked at the store, it was a small art gallery. She smiled, she loved art.

Looking at the door, she contemplated going inside. She wouldn't have if she hadn't noticed the blood on the door handle, it was smeared and still dripping a little bit.

Her eyes went wide, the person didn't run, they were hiding.

Cautiously, she reminded herself of the gun she carried and went over to the door, opening it slowly. The bells jingled upon her entry and she winced at the sudden sharp sound and let out an annoyed grunt. The bells just gave her away.

She didn't really know why she wanted to help people, she just did. Her love of life was so strong she felt compelled to find and help people, to extend the same hand Glenn tried to do for her. It pushed her to help others not so fortunate as her.

"H-hello?" She called out through the store, it was dark inside, but her new sight cut through the blackness. "I'm n-not here t-to h-hurt you. I want to h-help."

A careful response, one she wasn't sure she was going to get. "Are there more of you? Out there?"

"I'm a-alone." She answered, she was completely alone.

The sound of a few steps came from the far back of the store and a person stepped into the light. It was a young man, there was blood on his hands and a little left on his sneakers. "What are you doing out here then? The cities' dangerous on your own."

"I g-get a-around." She shrugged, taking a step back, she was more the wary of a man who looked capable of overpowering her. He seemed to get this and put his hands up. "I'm not going to do anything, I swear. I just want to get back to my friends."

She nodded, "I c-can h-help you."

He grinned, "I'd appreciate it. I'm not real familiar with the city, I come from a county North of here, Atlanta's one big maze to me."

Waving him along, they left the store. She made sure he was a few feet from her as she looked out over the city. "W-where w-were they l-l-last time you w-were with t-them?"

"Down by the theater, we dodged in there for a breather. We were being chased and I got cut off. I don't know where they went after that though." He licked his lips and put his hands on his hips.

"The t-theater is t-this w-way." Laura went back down the street she followed him on, he wasn't too far behind her and she made a point to keep her hand resting on her gun. Just in case.

They went straight to the theater, there wasn't a great number of the undead between them and the theater now. She wasn't concerned about herself, more for the man who couldn't take out half of this many undead alone. Attracting any more and he'd be dead in seconds.

"Wait h-here, or s-s-somewhere s-safe, I'm g-going to g-go see if t-they're i-inside." She went forward, she could hear his protests but eventually he couldn't do or say anything about her walking straight into the undead. He had to do as she said.

She ran straight passed the undead, they still cared not for whatever she did. The theater was straight out of a horror story, the torn carpets, ruined and dark posters of other horror stories, and corpses strewn about while the undead hovered around lifelessly.

Going from room to room, she searched around for the rest of that man's group. The dark screening rooms seemed most likely place to find them, if they were holed up somewhere in the theater. There wasn't many other places to go, a few smaller rooms, but nothing substantial that could hold more then a few people at once and she hadn't a clue how many people were in this group of his.

So she drew her weapon and pushed every door open and searched the rooms with her gun at the ready.

When she opened one of the doors near the end, it was cut off by hitting something behind it. She could just barely make out the shape of some chairs and a janitor cart behind the door.

Trying again, she pushed much harder but was rewarded with the stuff moving maybe an inch before stopping completely. She was just still too weak, she lost her muscle and weight after she was turned, having not eaten anything as of yet wasn't helping either.

Sighing, she stopped pushing and guessed why the door was blocked. There is a high chance that this was due to the man's group. So, instead of trying to force the door open like she was one of the undead, she knocked.

And waited, before knocking again. "Hello." She called out through the crack she could open the door to.

"Yes! Yes! Hello!" A woman's voice cried out from the door, "We're in here! Who are you?"

"I'm L-Laura," She answered, "I w-was outside w-when I r-ran into a m-man, s-s-said his g-group got a-attacked b-by the u-undead. T-told him I'd h-help. S-so, here I a-am." She hoped they believed her, there wasn't any way for her to prove that she was telling the truth. She couldn't sneak the man inside the theater, he was likely to get killed.

There was some noise on the other side, it consisted of quick and reprimanding whispers and the sound of various objects getting knocked around carelessly.

After a few minutes of this, the door was flung open, revealing a disheveled looking woman with red hair, a larger man behind her, a young man who looked around the age of the man outside, another man carrying a shotgun, a little girl about twelve years of age, and another woman who looked in her early twenties.

"You know Markus? Where is he? Why isn't he with you?" The distressed woman kept asking, pleading with Laura who just shook her head. "N-not here, have t-to get y-you outta' h-here first. T-then w-we'll talk."

"How we know we can trust her, guys? I mean, come on, really? Just gonna' get up and go with her?" The man with the shotgun asked, resting the weapon on his shoulder.

"Y-you d-don't know. J-just gotta' take a l-leap of f-faith." She smirked and pulled out her gun, "W-we need t-to g-get you outta' h-here fast. F-find a w-weapon and b-be r-ready to u-use it."

Each of them already had a weapon of some form. The large man had an ax, the woman had a crowbar, the man had his shotgun but was smart enough to put it away and take up a knife he had with him and the woman held a machete. The little girl just clutched her teddy bear and pressed onto the woman's leg, she put an arm around her shoulder and they all left the room.

The hall to the main room was empty, just corpses, which gave Laura the time she needed to formulate a plan.

"S-stay tight, they c-come c-close d-deal with them, but d-don't leave the g-group. Stick t-together and y-y'all have a better c-chance at l-leavin' together." She explained, she didn't have a melee weapon but she looked around until she saw an old tool box and took out a long screwdriver. It would have to work.

She sunk the screwdriver into the first undead's head, she could hear them behind her cutting down others, but didn't look back. They had to survive with what they had, they couldn't run around and tear through the undead, they had to be methodical.

They reached the front doors without any casualties and Laura slowly opened the first door and stepped out, checking every corner she could to find any undead that may sneak up on them as they tried to escape.

Outside there was a good few undead wandering around, a few saw them and started making their way to the group. They all took their time and cut down which ever ones' they could reach and stayed together, Laura was happy that they knew how to do this. They knew to, they had practice fighting their way out of a bad situation.

Crossing the street was easy enough and once they got through the hardest part, Laura looked around for the man from earlier, Markus the woman called him.

Sure enough, there came Markus. He cut down one of the undead as he made his way over to them, a bright smile plastered on his face contrasted heavily against his blood soaked clothing and exhausted look.

"Markus!" The woman threw her arms around him, they laughed and cried. They weren't out of the woods yet though, more of the undead were converging on them. "Guys, happy reunions later?" The man with the shotgun gestured to the encroaching undead.

They got tight together and began moving. "This way!" Shotgun man lead them away, he seemed to know what he was doing and Laura was okay with letting him lead. So she brought up the rear, following just behind the young woman.

He took them out of the marketplace and onto a main street, Laura got a little worried about running into a horde out in the open. The horde's usually followed the largest and easiest paths to follow, but so far there was nothing around, a straggler here or there, but nothing to warrant actual concern.

After a turning down two more streets and meeting a few unlucky undead, the group came to a building with a boarded up front. They went around back and opened a back door, everyone ducked into the building and Laura looked at the door, at the interior she could see from just outside the door.

It was dark inside, but there were people in this building, unsure people. Hesitantly, she stepped inside and closed the door, her hand firmly on the grip of her gun just to be a little more sure.

She caught up to them in the stairwell, one she struggled to climb. They'd already reached the top by the time she reached the second to last floor.

Sighing, she made the rest of the way relatively slowly and once she made it, she saw the group digging through supplies and a few snacking on whatever food and water they had.

"There she is!" The woman got up from her seat on the edge of the building. "Laura right?" She nodded, looking around to see the group worn out from their day. They almost died, it was understandable to be so tired.

"I can't thank you enough for saving us back there." She smiled appreciatively, but Laura shook her head. "H-handled yourselves f-f-fine, didn't n-need m-me for a-anythin'."

"Don't be ridiculous girl," The large man stood. "We really needed help today, with all those damn things walkin' around. Just needed someone to kick us into gear."

The man, Markus, came up and gave her a hug that surprised her. "Yeah, we owe you our lives. You're more then welcome to stay with us as long as you want." He grinned, "You know you want to."

They all appeared around her now, excluding shotgun man.

"Where are our manners?" The woman laughed, "I'm Elizabeth and this is my brother Markus." He nodded to her.

"Call me Braddock." He shook her hand.

The young woman stepped forward. "I'm Daisy. Lame name, I know." She laughed, "And this is my little sister, Melanie." The little girl shied away behind her older sister. Laura smiled at the girl.

"I'm Micheal, pleasure to have you with us." The man shook her hand too, a little firmer then the last. "And Mister Pouty over there is Red."

She glanced to the shotgun wielding man, he did look like he was sulking about something. "I'm L-Laura, g-glad to h-have h-helped."

"Well Laura, allow me the great honor," Micheal smiled, weaving his words flamboyantly. "-of fixing you some lovely... um..." He shifted through his bag and let out an _ah ha!_ before returning to her. "How about some delectable _spam_. Mmmmm, so yummy! What do ya' say, hmm?" He rubbed his belly like spam was such a fancy meal.

Laura's stomach answered for her, growling loud enough for them all to hear it.

The roof burst into laughter, the utter joy these people had made Laura a little relaxed. They were good people, nice people. They were trying to pay her back for helping them and she wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to eat.

They had a fire and a pot over the fire, the spam cooking to itself while Laura practically drooled over it. Spam wasn't fine lamb or veal, but at this point it was finer then the best sushi.

When her cook, Micheal, served her spam, she didn't put down the plastic fork they gave her to eat with down. Until she felt self conscious about halfway in and looked around at the group who had been watching her eat with amused looks. Swallowing her mouthful, she looked beside her where Daisy was sitting with Melanie and Laura held her plate out to them.

"No, it's yours. You look like you need it more then us too!" Daisy giggled, "Eat up. Everyone, stop staring!" The all laughed as they saw Laura take back her plate happily and finish off the plate of spam.

It was a delicious meal, she couldn't get enough of it. When it was all gone though, Laura set her plate down and ran a hand on her stomach. She still felt like she could eat a hundred plates just like that, but she was satisfied now. The hunger pain was gone.

After her dinner and they ate their own, they all discussed their homes and families. Laura felt this was actually done for her rather then towards each other.

Elizabeth came from Tennessee, she was in Georgia visiting her family when the outbreak happened. However, the family she was coming to visit was actually her dying mother who passed due to cancer a week before everything actually started happening. Markus lived in Georgia and was with her when their mother passed and was still there when the outbreak happened.

Daisy and Melanie lived just outside Atlanta before the outbreak, they were in their home when they met their first undead. Their mother died when giving birth to Melanie, but their father had been bitten by the undead before they had a chance to kill it. Daisy was a natural athlete, she was physically strong and while she wasn't bulky with muscle, she did look like she could hold her own well enough.

Micheal actually lived in Atlanta, he was here the entire time and hadn't left once since the world went to hell. Even before that it had been a long time since he stepped foot out of Atlanta. He ran a little antiques store downtown and was doing well for himself when the city met its first few cases of the virus. He said he was always a little bit of a neat freak when it came to germs and pandemics, so he locked himself up and tried to wait it out.

Braddock was a bodyguard, he was usually hired by important people coming into town or just anyone with enough money to actually afford his services. This explained the guns secured in their holsters under his arms. He wasn't on any job or anything when the outbreak happened, in fact, he said it was embarrassing.

Then chose to deliver a humorous groan and a "Fuck it, doesn't matter. The world ended anyways." He told them he was sitting at home enjoying his favorite ice cream, orange sherbet, and watching soaps.

Everyone stifled their own laughter at that, this large man sitting at home watching soaps was just an image they couldn't get out of their heads.

And because Red didn't seem to want to speak to anyone, Micheal explained that Red had a darker story. Said he had a son, but he didn't make it. There was no mother, she'd apparently left when the boy was young and Red had raised the boy himself, said that when Red told him the story he didn't sound bitter about being a single father, that he loved it.

He loved that boy.

The group was quiet after that, humbled by the man's loss.

When story telling was done and everyone ate, Micheal set her out one of their extra bedrolls and put it near Elizabeth's. They said they slept in pairs or all together, it was safer that way.

Laura didn't sleep that night, she never slept and never got tired.

Instead, she laid down and could make out Red's silhouette at the other end of the building, it was his watch.

She had to watch herself around him. He was reserved, but she still wanted to live. Outing herself to that man just didn't seem like such a good idea.


	7. Make Your Own Way

Laura wasn't alone anymore, she had them with her.

This group was generous, always giving her food and water, trying to be considerate and allow her ample time to rest. They had initially thought that because of her leg that she would get tired quicker when they moved, but when she told them that it wasn't the case, they seemed to understand and, through Laura's insistence, decided to heed her word.

She spent three full wonderful days with these people.

Time with Daisy and Melanie were spent laughing and playing when they weren't scavenging or setting up a new camp.

When she was with Elizabeth and Markus they'd either be scavenging, setting camp, or during off time they'd tell stories about _back home,_ they all pretended like home, or a place to call home, was still out there, but they needed to find it first. It was a comforting thought, but Laura didn't think they'd find this new home in the city or anywhere near the city really.

Braddock treated her like a daughter, asking about her, her school, what she majored in, what she was before the world ended. He told her a little about himself, but insisted that his life wasn't very interesting.

However, when she was with Michael she swore all he did was flatter her. It was like there was nothing else to do but talk to her when they spent time together. He was always smiling, always grinning his white teeth at her, laughing with her, and making her blush. Michael was a charmer, he'd tell you that himself.

Laura had actually managed to get Red to talk to her once. It was ominous, but he greeted her, they introduced themselves, and talked about a few things. Nothing of great importance and it was dancing around the subject. Red was cautious around her, he didn't trust her, for one reason or another, and blatantly told her so.

She said she was okay with that, it was understandable, and left him to think.

Over time they all worked better and better together, apparently, they'd only just had Elizabeth and Markus join them about two weeks before Laura showed up. They weren't adverse to new people, but none of them were stupid, they all made sure they had ample protection in case she wasn't friendly.

Elizabeth insisted that Laura wasn't a threat, that she was just a normal girl though. She got the idea that Laura wasn't anything more then a young woman in need of a helping hand.

Laura wasn't going to complain or correct her even, if Elizabeth wanted to trust her that was her business. In all truth, Laura trusted them, cared about them, she'd always been told that she grew too attached too quickly. Laura knew she did, but she felt like it was almost romantic like that. Like in the movies when the hero was worried about people, about being alone, but then he makes an unconscious decision to start trusting them and, in the end, it paid off. The hero leaves with his newfound allies and they all continue on to live happily together.

She grinned, she would like it if they could all live happily somewhere. Safe.

It wasn't long until her complacency started to cost her.

Laura started to forget that she was part of the undead and she just about stopped acknowledging it altogether. Walking passed the undead like they weren't there, standing near a few when she wasn't paying attention, and even showing a little bit more of her face.

Little things began building up, they all mostly trusted her, but there was this tiny seed of doubt that crept into their hearts and Laura couldn't see it. She was so happy to be with good people that she had forgotten to stop and check herself.

She completely forgot why she needed to. She was normal now, right?

These slip ups finally met their end on the forth day with the group...

Inside another store, Laura followed the group closely as they made their way to the roof. Michael had made a point to help her now, he had an interest in her and told her every chance he got since she arrived that he valued her more so then the others could.

Laura wasn't sure how to respond to how straight forward he was being, when she asked about his chosen _speed_ of approaching the topic, he'd tell her that the world was ending and he didn't have the luxury of time, asking her out, buying her a fine dinner, and of course, when he felt particularly playful, he'd joke about how they'd get back to her apartment having a good time and have themselves a classic Lady and the Tramp moment.

When they made it to the roof, they started pitching their tents and a few people went to bed straight away. They had made it a late night.

And yet, as Laura finished hers and was ready to just lay down and think for the night, Michael made his way to her. He'd started a fire just outside his tent and cooked her spam.

"Just like when we first met." He flashed her that brilliant grin, "Join me?"

Laura licked her teeth, she was a bit hungry and anything was better then just laying down and doing nothing for hours on end. She nodded and followed him back to his fire.

They sat down and enjoyed their spam meal, it was enough to make her stomach quell its hunger again. There wasn't much left, it was left overs from lunch earlier that day so she finished rather quickly.

"So, Laura..." Michael set his unfinished plate down and scooted closer to Laura. "Will I ever get to see your eyes?"

 _Charmer._ Laura smirked, "M-maybe s-s-someday."

"Hmm, well _maybe_ I could do something about making _someday_ tonight?" He was still grinning flirtatiously. Laura chuckled and shook her head, "I d-don't think s-s-so, M-Michael."

"Should I resort to... _drastic_ measures?" He got a little closer to her, he was inches from her now.

"D-drastic... m-measures...?" Laura sucked in breath when she turned her head to see how close he was to her now. He leaned on one hand to get even closer and her heart leaped into her throat, she swallowed audibly.

"Oh, something like this..." She could feel his breath on her skin now, so warm and inviting, she make no moves to stop him when his lips touched hers. Her eyes fluttered closed and they sat in a gentle kiss for, what felt like not long enough to Laura.

He broke off momentarily, scooted as close as he could and they both turned to face each other.

Micheal brought her back into the kiss, one hand on the side of her face, the other resting just above her hip, pulling her to him. Laura was blissfully ignorant of what she should do, it was her first time kissing anyone and was quite scared of ruining it. She reached up and one hand gripped his hair and the other grasping his shoulder.

Her mind went blank as he deepened the kiss, she had no way to describe what she was feeling. She liked Micheal, a lot.

With Laura's mind absent, Micheal pulled down her hood carefully, in case she resisted, but when she didn't he assumed she was alright with it and off it went. He opened his eyes and tried to get a good look at her through the dark, the light of the fire making her skin look actually more normal then it really was.

It wasn't until Laura opened her eyes and they broke to take a breath did he actually get to see her for what she was.

"Micheal?" She asked, his fixed stare unnerved her. Laura then felt a distinct lack of a hood and her eyes went wide again, she yanked the hood back on just in time for Micheal to scramble to his feet, knocking over a few things behind him as he fell back on his tent.

Red was on watch and heard the noise first. He hurried over, shotgun in hand and saw Micheal on his destroyed tent staring at Laura like he'd seen a ghost. Laura was sitting in front of the fire not making a sound or even a reaction other then to stare back at Micheal.

"What happened?" Red asked, Micheal looked terrified.

"She's..." He pointed to Laura and gulped, "She's one of them! She's one of the dead!"

Red's attention snapped to Laura who was standing and shaking her head. "I a-a-am n-not!" She cried and stepped away.

"Show them your face!" Micheal got up, "Go ahead, show them!"

The shouting attracted the others. Braddock got up first with a bat in his hand, Markus next with Elizabeth, Daisy and Melanie were all awake now and watching the scene with great interest.

"Hood down, now Laura." Red demanded, his voice was a veiled threat.

Laura shook her head, "You don't understand, I'm not undead!"

Markus came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her and lifting her. Red came up to her and yanked the hood off, he pulled out his flashlight and aimed it straight at her face. The collective gasps from the group told her that they put it together. Markus immediately dropped her and grabbed a knife, all of them ready to fight her, to _kill_ her.

Laura's eyes were as wide as they could be. They were her friends, she wanted them to understand.

"Where's your bite?" Red raised his shotgun, but it still wasn't pointed at her.

Laura showed them, trying to comply and explain to them what happened. The bite was scarring now, it was no longer an open wound. Red saw this and frowned, "That's healed."

"Y-yes, I've b-been t-t-tryin' to tell y-you t-that I'm c-cured! I'm b-better n-n-now!" She pulled the shoulder of her clothes back up, she looked around to the group. "I w-was undead, but I'm n-not a-any more! I h-haven't b-been in a l-long time!"

Red contemplated this before that shotgun was aimed at her. The others had the same look he did.

 _Death_.

"N-no, don't. P-please! Y-you d-don't unders-s-stand!"

"No other way Laura." Red approached her and put the shotgun down and reached for his knife. He wasn't going to risk shooting her and alerting all the undead within the next few blocks. It'd be suicide. "You need to come with me." He took her gun from its' holster and put it in his belt.

"R-Red, you d-d-don't g-get it! I'm n-not undead! I w-was cured!" She pleaded, but Braddock grabbed her and forced her to follow Red. "You c-can't do t-this! L-let me explain, p-please!"

She saw them one last time before being led down the stairs, Braddock wasn't offering much consideration for her inability to walk well on the stairs and pushed her along to catch up with Red. They only went down two storey's before they stopped off and pulled her into the dark floor.

Braddock stepped back, blocking her path to the stairs.

Laura was panicking, she had to act fast because Red was coming back around from taking a quick check of the room with that knife and he was going to kill her the moment he reached her.

She looked around frantically. Braddock was a big guy, she'd have to get him out of the way, and the stairs? She had to get down them before they got to her.

Red stepped in front of her, his body coiled and ready to strike. "Time to go."

Laura's tears made his face blurry, she could tell he wasn't happy about this, but they wouldn't let her explain herself, that she wasn't undead and she was safe to be around. She knew everything about it, she could tell them whatever they wanted to know.

" _Fight back._ " Laura sighed, the Voice was back. " _Let them know you aren't weak anymore. You can fight them, all you need is that gun._ " Laura glanced down to his belt and her gun was there, just waiting for her. " _Deal with them_."

They wouldn't give her that chance.

And now Laura made her own.

Right before Red brought the knife to her head, Laura charged him. She ducked down and forced everything she had into knocking him over and the sudden shock of the force she rammed into him with seemed to work. He was shoved off his feet and she grabbed his hand and bashed it into the floor, loosening his hold on the knife while she grabbed her gun and cocked it, the safety was never on.

Braddock didn't have time to reach her before she put the gun to Red's head and put him in between her and Braddock.

"M-move Braddock." She glared at the large man who put up his hands. He wasn't about to let Red get killed, he stepped aside and she did a circle around him, her arm locked around Red's neck and the gun pressed firmly to his head.

If they pushed her, she wouldn't shoot him, she couldn't bring herself to do it, but they weren't going to push her.

She was able to back down the stairs slowly, just enough to keep Braddock off her and Red secured in her arms. He wasn't saying anything, no negotiating, at least, not yet.

Laura had to make it down four more storey's and was able to get down one and a half before Red spoke up.

"Laura, you need to stop this." She nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, "Put the gun down and come quietly. You don't want to be one of those things."

"R-Red, look, I'd a-agree w-with you if t-this was n-normal, but i-it's not." She took another careful step down, "I w-was b-bitten a long w-while ago, m-months ago, but I'm o-okay n-now. I w-was cured, I don't k-know h-how it w-works, but my f-father was a s-s-scientist a-an' he f-found a way."

"That's... just." He sighed, "Laura, there is no cure. You're going to turn."

"T-that is w-why w-we're n-not talkin' a-about this R-Red." Laura explained, trying to move faster as she kept a close eye on where Braddock was heading down the stairs just a storey above them. "Y-you don't g-get it, j-just because y-you don't k-know it exists doesn't m-mean t-that I'm l-lyin'. I w-was c-cured, I remember it. I r-remember wakin' up a-an' w-wonderin' what w-was g-goin' on 'cause I w-was s-s-strapped d-down to a t-table. E-experimented o-on. I r-r-remember. It h-happened."

"Then I am truly sorry about this."

Red grabbed her arm with the gun and yanked it forward but couldn't dislodge the gun, instead, he elbowed her ribcage and spun around. He punched her in the stomach, causing her to double over before losing her balance and falling back down the stairs.

She tumbled down the stairs, her hands on her head and the back of her neck as she collided with the stairs.

Her body slammed against the far wall, but she was alive and awake. Looking up, she saw Red on the staircase, he was watching her with wide eyes. Laura forced herself to get up, through her body screaming in protest. She aimed her gun at him, but he wasn't making a move for her, none at all.

Laura limped to the stairs and ran down as fast as she could before she heard Braddock caught up with Red and they were talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying.

The moment her feet touched solid ground she bolted for the exit and left the building, the street, the surrounding blocks. She just left completely, staying no where they could find her.

She was in pain, the adrenalin had begun to die down and her body replaced her nervous and rush induced twitching to just sore pain. Her body throbbed against any kind of movement, so she sat down and rested. She couldn't sleep, she wanted to be able to sleep again, but she couldn't. It was as if her body didn't know how or why it would want to.

So she sat on the ground through the pain, she did nothing but sit as still as a corpse.

Laura laughed to herself, after all that, she still wanted to help them. Micheal's face contorted in horror when he discovered her, Red readying himself to kill her, the other's realization of her.

She still liked them, they were good people and all good people deserve good things in her book.

Laura just wasn't a _good thing_. She was disaster waiting to happen.


	8. Officer Friendly

Days flew by and she still hadn't a bite of food, there was a moldy bag of hostess snacks, soggy chips. Everything was inedible, she didn't know if she could get sick, but if she ate bad food it would certainly make her _want_ to be sick.

Instead of trying to find food now, she wanted to search the city for any signs of life.

As she dug through buildings, searched abandoned stores, and rummaged in piles of junk, she found no more signs of human intervention. Glenn and the blonde woman were the last humans she'd seen and that wasn't exactly disappointing to her.

She was relieved when building she searched yielded no signs of life, it was depressing and yet she was also glad that there was no one here.

There was a part of her that yearned for human interaction and another part of her that told her she clearly had learned nothing, the people she'd seen in the past were hostile and violent.

 ** _Except for Glenn and that woman._** They weren't hateful, they didn't try to hurt her, Glenn even tried to offer her a place in their group. She figured it was a trap of some level, but as she looks back on that day she realized that was highly unlikely.

Just that look on his face told her she was just thinking the worst about everyone because she had a few bad experiences.

The bleak city was left dead like the bodies that littered its streets. She found no one, nothing even relative to human life. As time passed her by, she felt a little regretful for not joining the two survivors to meet their group. There was a distinct possibility that they were just as hostile and lacked morality as the last few humans she has come across.

But she still felt like she wanted to go to them, find them somehow, take a leap of faith and hope to God that when she hit the bottom that it didn't hurt.

She had grown used to her leg brace, walking with it like it wasn't even there anymore. She could move faster now then she could before, when the brace was alien to her.

After a little while, she wanted new clothes and took it upon herself to go shopping.

She now wore jeans, the left pant leg torn off at the hip so her brace wouldn't catch and pull on the material. She had a strong blue shirt on and donned a black hoodie, the hood was large enough to cover half her face so any survivors she came across wouldn't be able to see her undead features. Her dead eyes, her blue-tinted lips, nor her gaunt face. She wore a scarf underneath the hoodie, it covered her mouth and nose, hiding even more of her strange appearance.

So instead of nearly being killed when people looked at her, she would be able to keep her appearance under wraps for a little while.

Aside from her unnatural and dead appearance, she took note of the damages done to her body in the last few weeks.

Bruises on her hips, breasts, neck, face, and arms. She was vaguely aware of a cut on the back of her forearm, but was unaware of its' origins. She tore off the sleeves of a shirt in one of the department stores and wrapped it up, there was barely any blood due to her low heart rate and dreadful blood pressure. Her wrists were raw, rope burn and cuts evident.

She healed so slowly, it annoyed her to no ends. Using a few more thin material strips of clothing, she wrapped up her wrists and part of her hands. She found a gun store and while it had mostly been scavenged bare, she was able to find a few bullets that her gun could use and a holster for it.

With new clothing, a secured place in the apocalypse, and the undead as her allies, she felt empowered.

As quickly as this new found confidence came, it was torn from her.

 _ **BANG.**_ A gun went off, a few shots were fired after the first one and she watched as the undead around her turned and headed in the direction of the shots.

She moved fast, a human, at least one, was out there in the city. It was too dangerous for them, they couldn't survive here. The dwindling amount of supplies in the city... or just flat out lack thereof should've forced them to move on, but there was obviously another one in the city. Perhaps it was Glenn and his group? When she first met him and the blond woman it was because they fired off a few rounds.

Hurrying to the sounds of gunfire, she saw a horde of undead converging on a tank, climbing on it, under it, and just banging themselves against the metal shell of the tank.

She saw a man rise from the hatch atop the tank, he was _alive_. He shut the hatch and took shelter within the tank, he was trapped inside the small metal space.

The horde of undead were mostly distracted by something else, there was a feeding frenzy to the right side of the tank, she didn't know what they were eating as the amount of undead digging in and the size of the meal was clearly not human.

They ate animals too, so she just assumed it some kind of animal.

She didn't know what to do for this human, he had locked himself in a tank and the horde around him wanted him so badly. They beat themselves bloody as they tried to force their way in. It was useless of course, a metal shell like that wouldn't even be scratched no matter how many of them tried to break it open.

He was safe for now, but he couldn't live in there.

She had to formulate a plan, some way to get him out without getting herself killed or him getting bit. She wasn't very good at this, but she wanted to try hard, to help, and maybe she'd find good people while she was at it, help someone who was good and kind.

That would be most satisfactory to her, she wanted to help, she hated the idea of people being eaten alive. It just wasn't a pretty thought.

She was drawing a blank though, she could stop and hinder undead, but she couldn't control them. They wanted to eat, they chased their food, whatever was in between them and their meal was of little importance to them. This meant her. They'd trample her if it meant getting to their food.

If she wasn't careful, she'd end up getting herself injured and him killed or worse.

The undead began piling off the tank and joined the others in eating whatever large animal they had been eating on the ground, less and less of the undead paid attention to the tank until finally, there was only a few sticking by it.

Then, the hatch up top popped open, the man pulled himself out, cut down one of the undead and made a run for it. He jumped from the tank and met the ground harshly before running down the street. He fired a few more shots at undead who got too close.

She was close by and, when he turned around and pointed a gun at someone, all she heard was a familiar voice, "Whoa! Not dead! Come on!" As the two ducked into the alley.

She saw him again, it was Glenn, he was there. This man was part of their group? He wasn't very intelligent if he managed to alert a horde (or two) and trap himself in a tank in the middle of the horde.

It was her chance, to see if what he said was true. That his group was made of good people, friendly people, who only wanted to help others and survive together. It was a wishful thought, but she hoped he was telling the truth. She still had her gun if he wasn't.

"G-G-Glenn." She spoke up, alarming the young man and his friend.

"Oh, hey. Hey!" He grinned nervously, "It's you-" The undead groaned behind her, they were approaching fast. "Sorry, can't talk! Come on, we gotta' go!"

She nodded and followed them, praying that they were good people. That they wouldn't hurt her or lie to her, again, she had her gun in the event that they were hostile.

Glenn went first, then the other man and she followed suit, climbing the ladder up to an elevated metal platform. Once up, they all looked down and saw how close they were to being eaten.

The undead horde were growling and groaning at the foot of the ladder they climbed, the two took a breather, trying to get their heads on straight and calm down before making their next move.

They were both panting heavily as she watched the undead down below.

The ladder shook, the undead were trying to figure out how to get to them by pulling themselves up the ladder. One made it a few bars before slipping, this made both the stranger in the sheriff's outfit and Glenn panic.

Glenn looked to the sheriff, "Nice moves there Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff?" He didn't know this man, he was a stranger to both her and Glenn, but Glenn didn't seem worried about him. "Riding in to clean up the town."

"Wasn't my intention." The man had a steady southern drawl, he was just as concerned about the undead below as Glenn was.

"Yeah, whatever, _yeehaw_." He glanced back to the man, "You're still a dumbass."

The stranger stood straight and faced Glenn, "Rick, and thanks." He held his hand out, Glenn looked at it oddly for a moment. "Glenn, you're welcome."

Their panting made the whole exchange moderately amusing, if they hadn't just cheated death. Rick, the sheriff, pulled out his gun and opened the backpack Glenn was wearing, he nestled the gun in safely before Glenn's caught sight of the undead making their way up the ladder.

"Oh no."

The two looked up, the ladder went sky high and had no more platforms between them and the roof. "Bright side?" Glenn looked at Rick, "It'll be the fall that kills us." He shrugged, "I'm a glass half-full kinda' guy."

She smirked, watching them as they began the ascent to the roof of the building. It was a long climb, but it was possible.

Once they were on the roof, Glenn led them away from that building and used various connections between buildings to safely cross over streets. The undead couldn't reach them up here, so they relaxed a little.

"Hey." Glenn caught her attention, "Changed your mind?" He was still tired from their escaping the undead, but he still managed to smile at her.

She shrugged a little, "Jus-s-st thought I-I'd give you a ch-ch-chance."

He nodded, "So, what's your name?"

"L-Laura." She answered, the two men smiled at her. "Well, I hope you'll like staying with the group. You can leave whenever you want or stay as long as you want, we don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

She only now realized her voice must be muffled by the scarf around her mouth, so she pulled it down and smiled back at him. "T-t-thank you."

"I thought you two knew each other." The sheriff spoke up, looked to them both. They were familiar with each other, but Glenn just greeted her like he had done with him. They were strangers too.

"Kind of, I met her in the city a few days ago." Glenn answered, "I was out with another member of our group when a ton of geeks came by, we didn't notice them and she came up to us and slowed them down until we could get out." He looked back to her, "I still don't know how you did that, it was like you weren't even there!"

She shook her head slightly, shrugging as if to say she didn't know either. He just passed it off, he was thankful she did it, he or his friend could've gotten bit if they were too slow to react.

Rick and Glenn stepped onto a small bridge between buildings and Rick looked down.

"Are you the one who barricaded the alley?" He watched the undead shuffle about idly.

"Somebody did," He jumped over the building edge, Rick followed and then Laura did. "I guess when the city got overrun. Whatever somebody was thinking, not many geeks get through."

The progressed to a jog, hurrying over the rooftop to reach a hatch in the roof. Glenn pulled it open and Rick helped, "Back at the tank, why did you stick your neck out for me?"

Glenn pulled the bag off his shoulders and dropped it down the hatch, "Call it foolish, naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me." He started to climb into the hatch, but stopped and looked back up to Rick. "Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass then you."

Rick seemed to think on this as he gestured for Laura to climb down, which she did. The dark engulfing her, Glenn, and Rick as the sheriff closed the hatch behind them. It was hard getting her braced leg down, but she was able to just hop her right foot from bar to bar and made it down without incident.

Glenn hit the floor first, grabbed the bag and swung it back on his shoulders. Laura was right behind him, watching as he scanned the floor for the undead. The room looked unfinished, like it was still being set up and Glenn just led them both through the room and to the furthest door.

He shoved the door open and they all rushed down the stairs, Laura lagged behind a little due to her brace. She could run and walk fine with it, but stairs always proved quite tricky.

They noticed this and while it made her feel rather pathetic, Rick came back and picked her up by her waist before carrying her down the stairs twice as fast as she had been going. It was a little embarrassing to be carried because of her crippled leg, but she didn't mind being lazy for the few seconds it took for Rick to carry her down

Tense, but willing to let him carry her, she held onto him for dear life. She'd never been carried down stairs before, it was unnerving, she felt like he was about to drop her every step he took.

He had to put his hand right on one of her large bruises, which made her wince as every bump of the stair case forced more pressure on it. She gripped his shoulder tighter, her nails digging into him like a small form of retaliation.

She heard Glenn talking on a radio, all she heard was that he had guests and something about geeks in the alley.

Pausing at the last few steps, they caught the attention of two undead who began to rush them. Rick wasn't letting her down yet, but he had taken a step back just in case.

Then, behind the two undead, a door slammed open and two people clad in black and wielding baseball bats came sprinting out and proceeded to beat the undead into the ground.

With those two undead out of the way, Rick had set her down on the ground and they both followed Glenn into the door the two people had run out of. She heard them coming up behind her, "Alright let's go!"

Once inside she moved out of the way of the door to let the two people behind her get in.

For a split second, they were able to breathe, then, something completely different happened.

A woman, the same woman she'd seen with Glenn a few days ago shoved Rick against a stack of boxes and pulled a gun on him. Her eyes went wide, Rick hadn't done anything to warrant this kind of a reaction.

"You son of a bitch! I should kill you." She growled, for some reason she was extremely volatile. Rick instantly leaned back with his hands up and staring at the gun in his face.

In swift response to this, Laura pulled out her own gun and aimed it at the woman, she cocked it and they all froze.

One of the people with a baseball bat had taken off his helmet and shook his head at the blond woman. "Just chill out Andrea, back off." He wasn't affected by Laura pulling a gun on Andrea, the blond haired woman.

In fact, he looked like he was dealing with children.

Another woman behind Andrea was trying to stop Andrea, "Come on, ease up."

Andrea huffed, "Ease up? You're kidding me right?" She spared a split second glance to the woman behind her, "We're dead because of this stupid asshole."

Rick sent Laura a look that told her he wanted her to put the gun down, but she refused. Rick seemed like a decent man so far, she'd be damned if she'd let this ignorant woman kill him. "Laura, put the gun down." He tried to urge her, but only succeeded in making her take a step closer so the gun was only a few inches from Andrea's head.

A man stepped up to the woman, "Andrea," He looked to Rick, "I said back the hell off."

She held the gun on him for a little longer, the people in the room doubted she'd actually fire it, but people who were desperate were always hard to read. She could pull the trigger on accident or because she is panicking.

Glenn stood near the wall, he just saved this man and there was Andrea pointing a gun at him with Laura aiming her's at Andrea.

None of them knew if Laura would shoot, but they didn't want to risk it either.

He came back, still removing the heavy guards he had worn when he went out to kill the two undead in the alley. "Or pull the trigger." He dared, but Andrea gave in and the gun lowered.

Laura holstered her gun as Andrea looked about ready to cry.

She took a few steps back, "We're dead, all of us, because of you." She was shaking her head, tears in her eyes.

Rick just took a look around the room, taking note of the people there. "I don't understand..."

The man who had spoken against Andrea, who told her to pull the trigger, took hold of Rick's arm. "Come on." He began to drag Rick out of the room, "We came to the city to gather supplies," He shoved Rick ahead of them, the entire group headed out of the small room. "You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving. You know what the key to surviving is? Sneaking. Tip toeing in and out, not shooting up the streets like it's the OK corral."

They arrived in a main room, a clothing store. Rick paused and stared out the doors.

Another man approached Rick. "Every geek for miles around heard you poppin' off rounds."

Andrea stood beside Rick, "You just rang the dinner bell."

"Get the picture now?"

There were countless undead scratching at the doors, all pressed up against the glass doors as they tried to claw their way in. The glass had began to crack in various places, one of the undead even had a large rock and was trying to smash its way in. Unfortunately for them, it was working.

Rick could barely believe it, there were so many that he couldn't tell where one started and another ended.

They all backed away when they heard more glass cracking under the stress. Andrea looked to Rick, "What the hell were you doing out there, anyway?"

"Trying to find the helicopter." He said like it was nothing, Laura didn't remember any helicopter, but, then again, she hadn't been with them long. It must've come by before she met up with them.

One man scoffed, "Helicopter? Man, ain't no damn helicopter."

A tall thin woman spoke up, "You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things. It happens."

Rick insisted, "I _saw_ it."

One of the men faced the other, "Hey T-Dog, try that CB. Can you contact the others?"

"Others?" Rick was surprised to see people in general, but he even more so to hear that there were more. "At the refugee center?"

The other woman looked at him incredulously, "Yeah, refugee center. They got biscuits in the oven waiting for us." She replied sarcastically, Laura knew there was virtually no one else in the city, maybe one or two others, but definitely no refugee centers.

T-Dog appeared disappointed, "Got no signal." He looked up, "Maybe the roof?"

 _ **BAM.**_ A gunshot went off, making them all jump, startled by the sudden loud sound, fearing it would attract more of the undead.

Andrea groaned, "Oh man, is that Dixon?" Glenn just waved Laura and Rick along, "Come on, let's go!" He was worried about the shot, but neither of them knew exactly why.

They all turned to rush out of the room and into a tall stair well, she didn't know how many floors there were, but she still had the same problem.

Like before, Rick had taken notice while the others ran up the stairs. "Come here." He put an arm across her shoulders and swooped down to the back of her knees, lifting her easily.

"H-h-heav-v-y?" She croaked out as he climbed the stairs while carrying her bridal style.

He shook his head, "Nah, you're very light." She figured it was probably due to her low blood and water content, also because she hadn't eating a damn thing in a very long time. She had no fat on her, no meat.

Once they reached the roof, he began to set her down. "You good?" He asked, checking to see if she could stand. She nodded firmly, "Y-y-es, thank y-you."

They both approached the group infighting cautiously, the man from before, the one who appeared in charge of this group, stomped up to the man firing on the roof. "Hey Dixon, are you crazy?!"

The man laughed almost disturbingly, fired off another shot before turning around to face them. "Hey, you outta' be more polite to a man with a gun." He jumped down from the ledge. "Only common sense." He had a big smile plastered on his face.

That is, just before T-Dog stepped up to him. "Man, you're wastin' bullets we ain't even got!" He was pissed off with this Dixon character, "Bringin' 'em all down here on our ass, man just chill!"

Rick held his arm in front of Laura, stopping her from approaching the fight. He was concerned about this man, he seemed unstable and very angry. T-Dog was right though, they had enough of the undead coming after them, they didn't need more.

He laughed at T-Dog and Laura's eyes widened as he spat out multiple racist remarks, first to the man behind T-Dog, then a vague one to T-Dog.

Rick looked pointedly at Glenn, almost asking if he should intervene. Glenn shook his hand and put his hands up, telling him no to get involved. Something about this Dixon character made Glenn terrified of him.

Then Dixon spat out a particularly harsh racist slur, one Laura reeled in shock from and T-Dog jumped Dixon, throwing his fist at the man.

But Dixon was faster, he stopped T-Dog's punch and hit him with the butt of his rifle, everyone leaped into action then. Rick went for Dixon but was cut off by the pissed off man turning and clocking him in the jaw, which knocked him over the large pipes.

They tried to reach T-Dog, but Dixon was already on him, kicking the man while he was down.

Laura didn't want to sit here and watch, she pulled out her gun, knowing shooting it would be a bad idea, she just spun it in her hand and tried to hit Dixon over the head with it, hard enough and he'd be knocked out, not hard enough and... well, bad news for her.

She didn't even make it to the man before he grabbed the hand she held her gun in, twisted her arm and punched her. She fell pretty fast, holding her eye. It was going to be pitch black by the end of the day.

Dixon returned to assaulting T-Dog, but she wasn't able to fight the large man. She heard the cries of the people trying to get Dixon to stop, they were all too scared of him to jump in.

He got down and began beating T-Dog, but the other man tried to grab Dixon who just elbowed him in the stomach. Rick was recovering from the blow to the face and he was just getting up right as Dixon pulled a gun on T-Dog.

"No, no, no. Please, please!" Andrea begged and Dixon just continued to hold the gun on the beaten man.

Dixon looked up then spit on T-Dog. "Yeah, alright, we're gonna' have ourselves a little _pow-wow_ , huh. Talk about... who's in charge." He got up from T-Dog, who pulled himself to the group who grabbed him and dragged him away from Dixon. "I vote me, anybody else? Huh? Democracy time ya'll, show a' hands. All in favor? Huh? Come on, let's see 'em."

Andrea and the other woman used an old shirt to begin cleaning the blood from T-Dog as Dixon aimed the pistol towards them.

One of the men raised his hand, knowing that Dixon would fire on them. Andrea rolled her eyes, "Oh come on."

Reluctantly, each person raised their hands, except T-Dog who laid on the floor in pain.

"Yeah, that means I'm the boss, right." Dixon overlooked the group. "Anybody else? Hmm? Anybody?"

Laura saw Rick approaching Dixon quietly with the rifle Dixon had dropped earlier. "Yeah." He whacked the man with the rifle like it was a bat and Dixon fell. She was thankful Rick was able to get the drop on him, she hated to think what Dixon would've done had he continued to hold a gun over their heads.

Rick put a knee on Dixon's head and slapped cuffs on his right hand and the other side of the cuff on a strong bar connected to the pipes he had fallen over earlier.

He dragged Dixon up by his vest, who groaned in protest. "Who the hell are you man?!"

"Officer Friendly." He turned around, grabbing the pistol Dixon had threatened the group with earlier. "Look here Merle, things are different now." Rick was _pissed off_. She didn't think anyone could ever get so angry.

"There are no _niggers_ anymore, no dumb as shit inbred white trash fools either." Rick had taken apart the gun now, satisfied that Merle couldn't use it to his advantage anymore. "Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

After his speech, Laura expected Merle to accept defeat, but he relented. "Screw you man."

Rick just sighed, "I can see you make a habit of missing the point."

"Yeah, well screw you twice." Merle growled, Rick just pointed his own revolver at him, the barrel pressed firmly against the violent man's head. "I would be polite to the man with the gun, only common sense."

She grinned at that, Rick definitely had quick wit.

"You wouldn't," Merle snarled at Rick, "Yer a cop."

Rick lowered the gun, "All I am anymore is a man lookin' for his wife and son, anybody who gets in the way of that is gonna' lose." The two glared at each other, "I'll give you a moment to think about that."

After a few tense seconds, Rick searched Merle's pockets before pulling out a small bag that Laura hadn't a clue what it was. "Got some on your nose there." Rick flicked him and stood up.

"Whadda' gonna' do? Arrest me?" He laughed before watching Rick throw the small bag of white powder off the roof. He was cut short, "Hey, whadda' doin' man, that's my stuff! If I get loose you better pray, you hear me, you pig, you hear me?!"

Rick left Merle alone to struggle in the cuffs.

"Yeah, your voice carries." Rick paid little attention to Merle's complaints and insults. Laura was still on the ground holding a hand over her eye, but she could see Rick grab his hand as he leaned on the edge of the building.

The man she still didn't know the name of approached him. "You're not Atlanta PD. Where you from?"

Rick just tried to calm his adrenalin rush. "Up the road a ways."

"Well Officer Friendly from up the road a ways," He nodded to Rick, "Welcome to the big city."


	9. Goodbye Atlanta

The group was watching the undead in the streets all shuffling towards their building. Andrea commented on the likeness to Times Square.

"How's that signal?" The man was holding his stomach carefully as he and Rick rejoined the group.

T-Dog was sitting down, being attacked took a lot out of him and they had no medicine for him. "Like Dixon's brain; weak."

Merle just flipped T-Dog the bird.

"Keep trying." Andrea looked over to across Rick to the other man, "Why? There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing." She pushed herself off the edge and left them there to talk.

Laura was now sitting on the staircase nearby Merle, who would look her way every now and then. The glances were very unwelcome and made her skin crawl, if there was anyone she'd be happy to throw off a building, it'd be Merle.

The man sighed, "Got some people outside the city is all, there's no refugee center. That's a pipe dream." Rick looked a little disappointed, but hid it well. He was hoping that his wife and son were there, safe, but that wasn't happening.

"That means she's right, it's up to us to find a way out." Rick turned around to look around the roof for a second.

Merle just _had_ to speak up. "Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear." Merle's eyes fell onto Andrea who was sorting through a backpack. "Ain't that right sugar tits? Hey, honey bun, what say you get me outta' these cuffs? We go off somewhere, bump some uglies. Gonna' die anyway."

Andrea, for the most part, ignored him. Until that last comment. "I'd rather." Andrea stood and returned to the others.

Merle looked honestly disappointed, "Figured as much."

Laura stood up and joined them too, opting to keep her distance though. She still didn't know what to think of these people, after all, they allowed someone like Merle into their group; how many other members of their group were like him? She didn't want to know, but she started to like Glenn and Rick, they seemed to have real integrity.

"The streets aren't safe." The man huffed, "Now there's an understatement."

"What about under the streets, the sewers?" Rick asked, sewer systems would be no doubt safer then the road.

The man looked like a light bulb had literally gone off over his head. "Oh man, hey Glenn, check the alley. See any manhole covers?"

Glenn got up and rushed to the side of the building, he took a few seconds before coming back. "No, they must all be out on the streets where the geeks are." They seemed a little disheartened first, then one of the women spoke up.

"Maybe not. Old building like this, built in the twenties, big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flood." She looked like she was trying to remember all this, like she learned it in school. "Down in the subbasements."

Glenn looked at her oddly, "How do you know that?"

"It's my job, was, I worked in the city zoning office." Laura smiled, what luck.

The group hurried down the stair well, Laura and T-Dog stayed on the roof with a cuffed Merle.

She walked over to T-Dog and sat down next to him. "H-hey." He looked over to her, "Hey, don't think we've met yet." He grinned at her, "T-Dog." He offered his hand, "Laura."

"So Laura, ya' know Officer Friendly?" He asked her, it was an understandable assumption, they had arrived to this group together. "N-no, ju-s-st met h-him today."

"Ah, well, how long you been in the city? We used to see a lotta' people hangin' around Atlanta, but not lately. How've you made it out there?" He fiddled with the radio, she was unfamiliar with the device but watched his hands mess with the buttons and knobs.

"O-only about t-t-wo weeks now." She answered as best she could, she actually lost track of time. She figured it must've been at minimal two weeks, possibly even more. "W-what 'bout y'all? H-h-how've you... m-made it?"

"Our group is actually outside the city, at a quarry not too far from here." He rested his head back, "I can't wait to get back."

She nodded, "Your group... t-t-there mo-r-re like M-Merle?"

He looked sharply to Dixon, fixing the cuffed man with a solid glare she was sure could kill a man. "Nah, well, maybe his brother, but the other folk there... They're good people, just tryin' ta' make a life for themselves."

She liked the sound of that, so long as Merle wasn't around that is.

"N-n-neat."

"Thank you, by the way." She stared at T-Dog, a little confused. "For standin' up to Merle like that, tryin' to get him off me. Real brave to stand up to a guy like him."

She grinned, "I-I've fac-c-ced worse."

"Well, still, thanks. Figure I should thank Rick for stoppin' him. Bastard probably woulda' killed me if he hadn't stepped in." Laura frowned and looked to Merle who was listening to them. "I d-d-didn't do nuthin', I c-couldn't even g-g-get a hit on him."

"Ya' took a hit though, should get that looked at when we get back to camp." T-Dog smiled at her, through the bruises and cuts. They'd been cleaned as best as they could out here, but they still looked messy and angry. She only hoped they wouldn't get infected.

She patted his shoulder, stood up and looked out over the edge again. The undead at ground floor was growing in numbers, a few would be wandering by and join in the frenzy just because they knew what it meant.

Their comfortable silence was interrupted by Merle, who was practically leering at her. "That's a nice ass ya' got there, mind bringin' it over here to ol' Merle, sweet cheeks."

She spun around, she didn't want to be looked at like that. She knew he was undressing her in his head, but his expectations of her figure and the reality of her starved, weak physic meant he would've been very surprised if he knew about her.

"Man, just back the hell off." T-Dog defended her after he saw how uncomfortable Laura got when he spoke to her.

"Now, this is between me an' the lady." Merle grinned devilishly, "Come on, baby, let Merle get a hand full."

T-Dog just shook his head and returned to the radio, "Anybody out there?" He sighed, "Can anybody read? I hopin' to hear somebodies voice 'cause I'm gettin' sick and tired of hearin' mine."

"Yeah, well that makes two of us." Merle commented, a permanent smirk stuck on his face.

She sat back down with T-Dog, she didn't feel right leaving him alone with Merle when the others went to check the subbasements, that and she still had quite the problem with stairs. She didn't want to make Rick carry her down and back up again.

"Why don'cha knock that crap off, ya' givin' me a headache boy." Merle seemed to have come to terms with his cuffed position, he was no longer whining about it.

"Why don't you pull your head out your ass and maybe your headache will go away." T-Dog retorted, no longer caring about Dixon's comments. He still found it enjoyable to insult the man, since he couldn't do anything about it. "Have some positivity for a change, damn."

"I tell you what, you get me outta' these cuffs and I'll be all sunny sunshine positive for you." _Scratch that last statement._ Merle was just complaining about it in his own way now. "Hey, see that hacksaw in that tool bag over there? Get it for me, hmm? Could make it worth your while. Whadda' say man, come on. Get me outta' this thing." He jostled the cuffs against the pipes.

"Why? So you can beat my ass again? Call me nigger some more?" T-Dog was tired now, Merle wasn't bothering him so much, but he was exhausted.

"Come on, it wasn't personal. It's just your kind and my kind ain't meant to mix." Laura groaned and ran a hand over her face. "That's all, don't mean we can't work together, partners, as long as there were some kinda' mutual gain involved."

Merle smirked, figuring he convinced or was about to convince T-Dog to do anything for him. "So... about that hacksaw."

"I guess you want me to get that rifle over there too so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up, huh?" Laura sneered at Merle, she liked Rick, he was nice guy. Merle was an ass.

At that point, Merle gave up and fell silent.

Both T-Dog and Laura were thankful for that. Everything he said grated on her nerves, she felt bad for T-Dog because he'd been pretty badly beaten up. She wouldn't let Merle lay a hand on T-Dog again, he was just as nice as Rick and Glenn.

"T-T-T-Dog, how l-l-long y'all been here?" She remembered Andrea's reaction to Rick's entrance, claiming that he'd just gotten them all killed.

"Not long, we had to duck in here when the walkers started showin' up. The cop did exactly what Andrea said, he rang the damn dinner bell." He chuckled, it was almost depressing, giving up hope, but then he sent a genuine smile at her. "Still, he's helpin' us get out of here. Can't say the same for Merle here."

"W-w-why did y'all l-let M-Merle come al-long in the firs-s-s-t place?" Her speech was getting worse, T-Dog took notice and, unfortunately, so did Merle.

"Jesus woman, speak a little clearer would ya'? Ya' stuttering so bad I can barely understand you. Damn annoyin'." T-Dog's jaw clenched and Laura felt herself sinking a little. She knew her speech was bad, but she was hoping they'd be kind enough to overlook it.

Then again, she just thought _Merle_ and _kind_ in the same sentence. Which was impossible.

"Just lay off man, so what she stutters?" T-Dog scoffed at Merle, "I can hear her just fine, don't care if your dumbass can't."

Merle laughed, "So annoyin', if ya' gonna say somethin', say it right."

"I s-s-speak jus-s-st f-f-fine." She pursed her lips, she knew her voice was strained, quiet, hoarse, and all around unpleasant to listen to, but she wanted to know about this group and T-Dog was nice enough to fill her in on the details while he fiddled with the radio.

"I-I-I-I d-d-d-didn't c-c-catch t-t-that." He was antagonizing her now, mocking her speech.

"Ignore him, he's just some ignorant redneck bastard. Ain't worth our time." He glared at Merle before looking at her. She may have hated her poor speech, but it was all a side effect of her time as part of the undead, or walkers as they called them. "I'm curious though, you always do that?" He meant it as an honest question, T-Dog would mock her like Merle did.

"N-n-no, only s-s-showed up in the pas-s-st few m-months." She raised a hand to her throat and patted it with her figures, "G-g-got hurt, dama-a-a-ged my v-v-voice."

"Ah, alright. Well, do you think it's going to last or do you feel it going away?" T-Dog saw a bruise on her neck, but didn't comment on it.

"It's g-g-goin' away. S-s-slowly, but I c-c-can f-feel it getting b-better. A few w-w-weeks ago I c-c-ould barely talk a-at all." She rubbed her sore throat, the more she talked the worse it got, but she liked talking to T-Dog, he was kind to her.

"Well, that's good." He smiled at her, "Figure that it's best the damage ain't permanent, that would suck."

She chuckled, "Y-y-yes, it w-would!"

While they laughed, the group came back up the stairs, she saw they all were quite focused, as if something was wrong. "D-d-did you f-find anything?"

Rick looked towards her and shook his head. She sighed, _well, at least we tried._

Taking hold of the binoculars, Rick scanned over the streets. "That construction site, those trucks, they always keep keys on hand." He handed the binoculars to the other man who saw what Rick was talking about.

"You'll never make it passed the walkers." He observed, the street was full of them.

Rick looked to Glenn, "You got me out of that tank."

Glenn shook his head, "Yeah, but they were feeding, they were distracted."

"Right, can we distract them again?"

Merle chose this moment to speak up again, "Listen to him, he's onto somethin'. A diversion, like on Hogan's Heroes." The woman who had worked for the zoning office just glared at Merle. "God, give it a rest."

Rick was in deep thought, "They're drawn by sound, right?"

"Right, like dogs. They hear sound and they come." Glenn answered.

"Alright, what else?"

"Aside from they hear you, see you, smell you, then they catch you and eat you." The man replied, trying to talk Rick out of his forming plan.

"They can tell us by smell?" Rick was a little surprised at this.

Glenn shook his head, "Can't you?"

"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea added, it was very noticeable.

Laura realized what he wanted to do, he needed to get passed the walkers to reach the truck and get them all back to safety. She could do that easily, but they would need to distract the other undead so they wouldn't catch up with them while she pulled the truck up.

"I can do it." She stood, thankful she didn't stammer this time.

The group looked at her oddly before Rick spoke. "I don't mean to sound insulting, but with your leg, I don't think you can outrun them."

She shook her head, "N-no, not t-that. I m-mean I c-can get pas-s-st the w-walkers wi-th-thout being h-harmed."

Glenn blinked, "That's right! You can!" The group threw him a confused look, Glenn looked to Rick. "Remember when I told you that I met her a few days ago, that she got us out before a herd of those geeks got us? Well, she stood in front of them and they didn't go after her, they completely ignored her, like she didn't exist."

Rick tilted his head and nodded to her, "That true?"

"Y-yes, the u-undead h-have never t-tried to e-e-eat me b-before." This confusing news made the group all the more curious. "I c-can w-walk through a h-horde and t-t-they don't b-bother me. N-never have."

"If that's true, can you reach the truck and bring it back?" Rick almost didn't believer her, wouldn't have if Glenn hadn't vouched for her. She nodded, "I c-can."

"Good, but we still need a distraction, some way to pull them away so we can get out and into the truck when Laura brings it around." Rick looked down to the street, "Do you think you can take someone with you?"

She furrowed her brow, "I d-don't know. N-never t-t-tried it before."

"So we still need a way to get one more person to go with Laura." He had to think on this a moment before coming up with a plan.

When he told her what it was, she couldn't believe it. If they smelled like the dead and walked like them, would they notice them? He was sending Glenn with her as she said she didn't know the city well and Glenn knew it best.

Glenn looked sick to his stomach, when Rick offered to take his place, Glenn refused, he knew he would have to go. He knew Atlanta like the back of his hand, he had to help Laura navigate the city if they were going to do this.

"Laura, when you get to the van, drive out and find a car, the newest one you can." He told her, the group wasn't present for this dicussion, "Make sure the alarms go off, Glenn will take that car and use it to lure the walkers away from the building. Once he does that, drive the truck to the loading dock and knock on the door. I'll take it from there."

She understood just fine, it was a good plan, but poor Glenn looked about ready to choke.

"R-Rick can c-come w-with me if t-this is t-t-too much G-Glen." She put a hand on his shoulder, "W-we'll unders-s-stand if y-you d-don't want t-t-to do this."

He shook his head, "This is a terrible idea, but I'm not going to back out now. Besides, they're right, if you're as unfamiliar with these streets as you say, then you'll need a guide and I'm the best for that."

Rick started getting things for Glenn to wear over his clothes. Heavy gloves, large jackets, oversized pants, and the like.

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn stared at Rick as he gathered the clothes.

They went downstairs, back into the room where they'd first met the group. Rick, Glenn, the man she still didn't know the name of, grabbed a dead walker and dragged it inside.

Rick was hesitating, he smashed open the fire emergency ax and turned to face the dead walker lying on the ground. It was still human, or was once, and the idea that he had was definitely pushing it.

Still, she hoped it would work.

With a running start, Rick was about to swing the ax down on the body before he froze up and slid across the floor. He paced, pulled off his helmet and dropped both the helmet and the ax.

The group was cringing the entire time, they couldn't imagine they were actually doing this.

Rick got down and searched the dead walker's pockets, he pulled out a wallet and his shaking hands opened it. He was inspecting it, "Wayne Dunlap. Georgia license. Born, nineteen-seventy-nine." He handed the license to Glenn, who took it cautiously, like it was some kind of fragile fine china.

"He had twenty-eight dollars in his pocket when he died." Rick smiled grimly. "And a picture of a pretty girl. With love, from Rachael."

Rick stared at the picture a little longer, "He used to be like us. Worryin' about bills or rent, goin' to the superbowl." He looked down, "If I ever find my family I'm going to tell them about Wayne."

He stood up again and put on his helmet and wielded the ax. He was ready to do it.

"One more thing..." Glenn spoke up, "He was an organ donor."

Laura thought that was the strangest thing to point out, she was sure that he didn't mean for his organs to be used like they were about to be used. The group just stared Glenn down.

Rick took this moment to swing the ax, the sound of blood and bones cracking made everyone ill.

Except Laura, who would never admit this, but was not bothered by the sight of the dead walker. It was as if it wasn't there at all, like the crunching of bones and the swish of blood actually didn't affect her like she thought it would.

Instead, she watched from her seat on some nearby boxes without any problems.

Everyone stumbled back, cringed, winced, heaved, as every swing of the ax hit the dead walker. The smell was quite rancid, but she wasn't bothered by it either.

The sounds of their disgust made her bite her lip, perhaps she should care a little bit more then she was showing.

"I'm so gonna' hurl." Glenn dry heaved.

Rick pointed to him, "Later."

He handed the ax to the man, "Get chopping."

"Everybody got gloves?" The all nodded, "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."

Laura joined them, her large gloves were a little difficult to maneuver, but she found they functioned like large spoons when she held the blood and guts right.

"It is too late to back out?" Glenn could _feel_ the walker guts being smeared on him, everyone got into it and while they were all groaning and on the edge of vomiting, they all took part.

"Oh jeez, this is bad, this is really bad." Glenn closed his eyes, he felt ill smelling it, but looking at it? He just _couldn't_ bring himself to open his eyes and look down.

"Think about something else, puppies... and kittens." Rick stressed, he tried to force more pleasant images into his own head, he wouldn't say anything, but it wasn't working very well.

T-Dog seemed to drift off into his own head, " _Dead_ puppies and kittens."

 _That_ did it for Glenn.

He spun around and hurled, gasping for air.

"That is just evil, what is wrong with you?" Andrea recoiled from the stench.

When Glenn came back, he shook his head. He didn't feel any better. "Does he smell like them?" Rick asked around, the entire group agreed.

Andrea came to Glenn, holding her gun out. "Just in case." She pulled back his gut covered coat and put the gun securely in his belt. He was appreciative, but he hoped he didn't have to use it.

"When they make it back, be ready." Rick addressed the group, all of them slowly recovering from the mutilation of the walker corpse.

"What about Merle Dixon?" T-Dog questioned, a certain level of venom in his voice. He was concerned not about Merle's safety, but about what Merle would do when he got free.

Rick contemplated this before removing his glove and pulling back his coat, he took out the cuff key and handed it to T-Dog. He looked thoughtful and backed away from the group.

"Give me the ax," The man handed it to Rick, "Need more guts."

Once Rick was satisfied with Glenn's appearance and smell, he deemed them ready for the job.

Right before she and Glenn left, Rick stopped her.

"Are you sure you can do this? They won't try to hurt you?" He tried to catch her eyes, but she lowered her head and the hood covered her face. She nodded surely, but he was still worried.

"If anything happens out there, if you can't get to the truck, don't worry about it. Surviving is the only important part of this." She smiled brightly, "Y-you got it R-Rick."

Glenn and Laura turned to the door and left the building, the group trying to keep an eye on them as long as they could. Then, the door closed and they all rushed back up the stairs.

She found Glenn's zombie acting skills so amusing she could barely contain herself. He groaned like he was just making sounds flatly.

Glenn was in the open, she knew they wouldn't bother her, but Glenn was human, they'd charge him if they got the slightest hint that he was edible. They couldn't move too fast, or rather, Glenn couldn't, because they'd notice him, but she could do hop scotch and they still wouldn't bother her.

She had to keep an eye on Glenn, make sure he didn't do anything that got him noticed by the walkers.

He limped like he was actually undead and when a very suspicious walker came by, he groaned quite convincingly. Which impressed her due to his earlier undead sounds which were quite pitiful.

They had to get down and crawl on their bellies underneath a bus to get out of the alley. Then, when standing again, headed straight towards the truck Rick pointed out to them.

It had taken a few moments to get close enough to the gates that they both felt confident they, or Glenn, was going to make it.

Then, it started to rain and pour down it did. Georgia weather, notorious for it's unpredictability.

More walkers became interested in Glenn, they didn't even try to go for her, but they did make her uncomfortable by the way they were ogling Glenn like he was some kind of five star meal.

A minute passed before the first walker tried to get Glenn. She just turned around and shoved it away, she had no melee weapons. Probably a bad idea considering she was supposed to be keeping Glenn safe.

"Run!" She yelled, her coarse voice sounding far too similar to a walker's screech. It made her worried for a second, but the moment passed, she had no time to dwell on it. She had to get Glenn out of here.

They ran through the undead, she shoved them over and Glenn hacking the heads of walkers who came too close to him. She grabbed him by his coat, the blood of the dead walker covered her hand and forearm by the time they reached the fence.

Glenn jumped up and Laura did her best to climb, her brace still making the more acrobatic part of her life quite challenging. Glenn took hold of her arm and dragged her up with him, they both jumped off the fence and the moment her left foot connected to the street, she _felt_ her femur crack.

He rushed to a wall mounted box where the keys were stored, "I got them, let's go!"

 _Dammit,_ that would add a great deal of time to her recovery. "Go! Get to the truck!" She cried out to Glenn who had just now jumped into the passenger side of the truck and she jumped in the driver side.

A walker slammed itself against Glenn's windshield.

"Can you even drive?!" He jumped back from the window, she just rolled her eyes as he handed her the keys. She started up the truck and took off. She had to follow Rick's plan, to find a car with a loud alarm and use it to lure the walkers away from the building so that she could pull the truck up to the loading dock without a horde surrounding them.

"Turn here! There's a parking lot, gotta' be a car in there somewhere." Glenn pointed out and she turned, luckily for them both, there was _one_ car left.

And it had a _hell_ of an alarm.

* * *

She waited and waited, the alarm was plenty loud enough to attract walkers from all around the city. She had to be ready to pull up fast, she drove slowly so Glenn could make his way around her and to the street the group were waiting on.

Once she gave Glenn his time and watched him leave the street with the horde chasing after him, she backed into the loading dock as quickly as she could.

Getting out of the driver seat, she knocked on the dock garage door and it instantly raised up. "Come on, come on, don't have much time!" She helped them get bags in before they hopped into the truck.

T-Dog leaped into the truck and the other man held onto rope attached to the side of the truck wall as Rick took the driver seat and sped off. She came up front with him, preferring to sit in the comfort of the chair rather then the hard bumpy floor of the truck. She cracked her femur and it _hurt_.

She was gripping the spot absent mindedly while the others in the back got comfortable.

Rick saw this and figured she'd gotten hurt. "What's wrong?"

Staring at him, she removed her hand. "J-just... s-s-strained m-my leg, it's n-not in the b-best condition ever." She smiled, trying to tell him that it was alright, that there was nothing to worry about.

"You did a good job, both you and Glenn." He was on the road out of the city and she was never so happy to leave Atlanta before. "Thank you."

She shook her head, "N-no, it w-w-was your plan, R-Rick. I s-should be t-t-thankin' you."

The group in the back made sounds of agreement, each of them happy Rick had found them a way out, even if he did cause all this.

She looked behind her and noted they were one man down, "Merle?"

T-Dog had an expression that told him he was very unhappy. "I dropped the damn key." The group understood, Merle was left on the roof to be eaten by the walkers, it wasn't a pleasant thought, but then again, Merle in general wasn't a pleasant thought.

Shrugging, she leaned back in the chair and let out a comfortable sigh.

"How do you do it?" Andrea asked Laura, who was unaware of the question being directed at her. "Laura, right?" Her head snapped up, "How'd you do it? Those walkers didn't even try to go for you. Glenn was right, they treated you like you weren't there. So, how did you do it?"

Rick glanced at Laura who looked extremely uncomfortable. There was something she was hiding, something she didn't want to tell them, but after her work today he figured they could hold off on the questions for a while.

"Let's let Laura be for now, she's probably very tired from her _adventure_ today." Her mouth was pulled into a frown, but she nodded to Rick after he spoke up for her. "Get some sleep, I'll wake you when we get to the camp."


	10. Under Wraps

"Laura, wake up." Rick tried to talk her awake, but she had never fallen asleep. She hadn't felt the need to sleep since she was cured, but she pretended. Moaning as if she'd just woken from a nap, Rick nodded up ahead of them. "We're here." Laura yawned as convincingly as she could.

Finally, she thought, she'd be able to analyze these people and see if she wanted to stay with them. It wouldn't be too difficult of a decision, if they were rude or cruel, she'd leave, if they were welcoming and kind, she'd stay until they changed or discovered her. There was more to it though, she knew as much, Merle was part of this group and he had a brother that wasn't much different then him; with any luck, he'd just ignore her unlike Merle had.

The truck stopped beside the red car Glenn had used to distract the walkers in the city, it was no longer wailing and looked no worse for wear. Glenn was standing with the group he told her about, there were quite a few of them who seemed anxious to see their members returned to them.

Andrea practically flew out of the truck when she saw someone she knew, clearly related, Andrea and this younger girl hugged so tightly it looked like they would meld together into one sentient being. Laura smiled, it was such a loving embrace, the two woman crying as they held onto each other for dear life.

The man had gone off to greet what Laura assumed to either be his wife and kids or relatives of some form or another, who were laughing in joy at his safe return.

Then, she stepped out of the truck with Rick, she wanted to stay close to him. Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog were gentle people, so willing to welcome her into their group with open arms.

And the single greatest thing happened, something Laura could never have predicted, she knew Rick was searching for his wife and son, but she figured his search would be fruitless. There were so many signs in Atlanta that were messages to loved ones, telling them where they were and what was happening. To never lose hope.

Rick never did lost hope and was rewarded for his perseverance. He was speechless, staring at his own son who cried out to him.

Laura stood on the side lines, watching the man collapse as he hugged his son in sheer relief at the sight of his family being safe, alive. He was crying loudly, not even caring who was watching them reunite; the display made her tear up a little too.

Why couldn't she have a father like Rick? That would've made life so much easier.

He stood up, carrying his son with him as he ran into his wifes' arms, her eyes were as wide as saucers she was in such shock. When close enough, she latched onto him as if she were to let him go, he would disappear.

She smiled for so long that her cheeks began to hurt, seeing Rick finding his family her happy. He was a good person and deserved to find his wife and son, rather then the families of undead she'd seen wandering the streets of Atlanta.

When they pulled away, words of love and worry just fell from the woman's mouth, she couldn't believe he was in front of her, she didn't know if she was imagining things or not.

A man walked up to them, a dark haired man wielding a shotgun just greeted him with a firm handshake. Rick knew him, he called him Shane. He was his friend and that made her all the more happy. He got his wife and son back, even his friend. The odds of that happening were so dreadfully low, yet, here they were, all enjoying the reunion of this husband, wife and son.

The man from earlier, the one who she never got the name of, approached her with his arm across the shoulders of a woman, a little girl in his other arm and a little boy in the woman's arms. "We never got to talk back there and I just wanted to say thank you for helping us get out of the city. My name is Morales." He offered his hand, which she accepted happily. "This is my wife Miranda, my son Louis, and my daughter Eliza." He bounced the little girl in his arms and kissed the forehead of his wife.

She just bowed a little, humbled by the strong love these people had for each other in the face of the apocalypse. "I'm L-Laura. It's a p-p-pleas-sure to m-meet you a-all." The two young children both shied away, hiding their faces in their parents shoulders. Laura couldn't help but giggle at them.

"Thank you so much Laura, for helping my husband and the others." Miranda took her hand and shook it. "We are so grateful to you and Rick for returning our people back to us."

"D-d-don't worry ab-bout it." Laura felt bashful, she'd never been thanked like this before. People were gathering around, everyone so ecstatic that their friends and family members had made it back safely.

"If you need anything Laura, don't hesitate to ask. We owe you and Rick." Morales smiled at her while Miranda looked so preoccupied with holding her husband like Andrea was holding that other girl and Rick held his family, like letting go would kill them. They were at a seating area in the camp and bathed one another in affections, Laura felt like she was witnessing something only they should be privy to.

She stood there awkwardly, she didn't know where to go or where she was allowed to go. If she was honest with herself, she really felt like finding the furthest corner and hiding away. Laura hadn't felt human anymore, it was like she changed into another creature altogether when she was cured.

Too deep in thought, she didn't notice Rick had turned around and had left the embrace of his wife for a few seconds just to get Laura's attention. Rick came up beside her, "Laura?" She jumped, she hadn't heard him approach her. "Y-yes, Rick?" He gestured for her to follow him and she did so with a certain amount of relief, she didn't want to stand around camp like an idiot.

"This is my family." Rick brought her to meet his family, Laura found herself in the same position she had been in with with Morales and his family.

"I'm Lori and this is our son, Carl." The brunette woman put her hand on the young boys head, "Rick tells me you popped out of the blue and helped save our members, who were complete strangers to you. Thank you." She hadn't stopped running her hand through her son's hair, her stress was making her restless.

Laura held her hands up and shook her head, "No t-t-thanks needed." Shrugging, Laura twirled a piece of her hair in between her fingers, "I only d-did what I f-f-felt was r-right."

Rick let out a chuckle, "She walked through a herd of walkers to save us, you most certainly deserve our thanks. That was a brave thing to do." He patted her shoulder.

Lori nodded, her shock at seeing her husband alive hadn't subsided yet, she kept glancing to his face to see if he was still there. Laura had seen this and assumed Rick did to, it was most endearing to see his wife so worried. "I can't begin to thank you enough, I thought my husband was dead and, maybe, without you that would have been true."

"I don't know where you came from, but I'm glad you showed up when you did." Lori managed to show a relieved smile. "I just want to... catch up with my husband for now, if that's alright with you."

"Oh n-no, go a-a-head." Laura stepped back, "You m-must have a l-lot of c-catchin' up to d-d-do."

Rick put his arm around his wife, "Thank you, again Laura."

With that, the happy family turned to leave, heading into a rather spacious tent she assumed was Lori and Carl's.

Looking around the camp, she realized there was more people then she thought and it made her quite nervous to be around so many strangers, not knowing their thoughts or intentions. A dark thought popped into her head that wondered if the group tricked her into coming here, that they planned something nefarious.

The second it popped into her head, she smashed it like the stupid idea it was. She was smarter then that. Rick was so gentle with her, Glenn had been so happy to see her and T-Dog talked to her like she was a close friend of his. Morales had been stressed out back in the city when they were cornered, but now that they were out of harms way, she could see he was a very caring man. Though Andrea seemed melodramatic to her, Laura knew she meant no harm and that she was just fearful she would die out there.

Laura felt like she was waiting for something or someone, she hadn't a clue why, but when she felt a hand tap her shoulder she was so startled she jumped back from the hand and made a particularly sad squeak.

The man held his hands up in defense, "Whoa, it's alright. I was just comin' to check up on ya'." It was the man Rick had called Shane who she overheard Rick referring to him as his friend. She put a hand on her heart and calmed herself, any friend of Rick's was a friend of hers. "Name's Shane Walsh, I'm an old friend of Rick's."

He held out his hand and she took it, he shook her hand gently making a personal note that her hands looked and felt very thin and frail. "So, Glenn tells me you just fell from the sky when he'd gone to help out Rick." Shane smiled to her, one hand on his shotgun that was resting on his shoulder and the other on his hip.

She nodded a little, slightly nervous around the man with the gun."Laura," She would spare a few seconds here or there to see where his shotgun was, "I t-t-thought I'd l-lend a ha-hand, t-that's a-all."

"From what I hear, you were a great help." He flicked his thumb on his nose and looked out to the camp before turning his head back to her, "You look a little lost, been a while since you've seen a group?" Shane wouldn't say anything, but he found her nervousness and little amusing.

Laura, however, thought it anything but amusing.

She remembered the four men, one carrying her into the abyss of the building, the others carrying out merciless acts on her. She was still sore, still ached. Then her mind went to her father, the time spent in his lab, the tests, the pain and hunger. It hadn't been long since she saw a group, it'd just been a long while since no one intended on harming her and she still wasn't sure about them.

"C-could say that." Her reply was barely above a whisper, Shane almost didn't pick it up. He raised a brow in question, but left it alone.

"Well, I tell you what, how about we go set you up a tent and introduce you to the folk around here, so you can feel a little bit more comfortable." He stepped back and nodded at her to follow him, to which she obliged.

He stopped at a small bare spot and told her to wait there for him, she sat on the dirt and pulled at the grass, it was so weird being with people again that she didn't know what to say and do. She listened to whatever people told her, at least, she would when they asked things of her, but she was still so wary of them; she hoped that was just her being overly cautious.

When Shane came back he was carrying something in his hands and he when he unrolled it, Laura had watched with curious eyes as he began to situate the pieces of what she thought looked like a disassembled tent.

An hour passed by filled with Shane cursing at the tent, Laura giggling when the tent would pop out of place and Shane would just step back, clench his jaw, and try again. Finally, the tent had been put up successfully and she was able to have privacy again.

"T-thanks, h-happy to b-be s-s-sleeping with s-s-something around m-me for once." She was overjoyed when she looked at the tent. Her tent. Shane just chuckled and licked his bottom lip. He was sweating now, his previous struggle with the tent over, he felt pride at his work.

"You have any questions, just come find me. I'm usually around camp. If you can't find me, go to him, his name is Dale." He pointed to an older man sitting atop the RV. "If you really need me, he'll be able to get me." He winked at her, "I got a few things to do right now, but I'll take you around the camp and introduce you to people later, alright?"

"Alright, S-S-Shane." She smiled brightly at him and ducked into her tent, marveling at the space, it wasn't actually very large, but to her it was perfection.

The flimsy shelter it was made her feel safer then she ever had in the past, of which she was so thankful for. This place was lovely, so far, but she wasn't going to be a victim again. Her spirits were lifted, but the Voice was in the back of her head, telling her that people can play nice.

There was a light rapping on her tent and she turned around, one of the woman who was with them in Atlanta had come in her tent with some kind of roll in her hand. She greeting Laura with such a sweet smile that made her relax.

"Hello, honey, my name is Jacqui." She had the kindest eyes and most mother-like smile Laura had ever seen, it made her so calm. "I just came by to drop this off for you, Shane said he forgot to give it to you when he set your tent up."

The kind woman whipped out the roll, which Laura saw was was bedroll. "If you get cold at night, just say somethin', we got plenty of sheets and quilts to go around."

Laura nodded, Jacqui saw her staring at the bedroll, then the tent, like she'd never seen them before.

"Dear, are you alright?" She reached out and rested a light hand on the girl's shoulder, the touch startled her and made her jump back just as she had done when Shane had tapped her. Jacqui removed her hand, wondering if she touched a sensitive spot. "What's wrong, honey? You can tell me."

Laura sat on the floor, mindful of her brace and ran her hands down the bedroll, over the tent, and finally looked back to Jacqui, her hoodie covering her eyes. "Jus-s-st not u-used to a-all this." She raised her arms to gesture to everything around her.

"What, not used to sleeping in a tent?" She reached out again, only this time Laura was more prepared and though she tensed up, she allowed Jacqui to touch her. Her hands were so gentle that even when her hand ran over her bruises she felt no pain, like the kind woman's hands worked magic on her body.

"N-no, been in l-l-lotsa' t-tents, I meant..." Laura tried to take a deep breath, her throat was so sore and swollen now that it hurt to do anything but breathing. Swallowing was so very painful, the soreness felt like someone had punched her in the back of the throat. If that wasn't enough, her black eye started to throb. Damn Merle. "I m-meant people bein' n-n-nice to me, n-not tryin' to h-hurt me."

Jacqui was shocked, how long had this young girl been out there? What traumas had she faced that made her jump out of her skin when someone touched her. She felt the need to be delicate with this subject and cautiously scooted closer to Laura. "Honey, have people hurt you before?"

The older woman was hoping that Laura would shake her head and tell her that no one had harmed her, just that she hadn't been with people in a long time, but alas, she nodded solemnly. Jacqui pulled Laura into a hug that she sat still as the kind woman held her.

The girl didn't make a sound and Jacqui leaned back from the hug. "Baby, what happened? Maybe you'll feel better if you talk about it." She was offering to carry Laura's burden, but the young girl felt compelled to keep her own secrets.

"N-nothin', forget I s-said anyt-t-thing." Laura whispered, her head down in embarrassment.

Jacqui gave Laura a concerned look, but she couldn't force the topic. "If you ever want to talk, about anything at all, I'm more then happy to listen." She gave Laura another one of her motherly smiles, "My tent is the blue one nearest to the RV, stop by whenever you want."

Laura barely nodded as her reply and Jacqui could tell she wanted to be left alone now, Laura wasn't acknowledging Jacqui anymore. She hadn't told her much, but she was very uncomfortable with telling Jacqui that little bit of information.

After Jacqui left, Laura stood up and made sure her hoodie was on right. She wanted to meet people like Shane said and she knew where to start.

She walked up to the RV nervously and slowly climbed the ladder on the end of it. Once she reached the top of the RV, the man Shane said was called Dale instantly greeted her with a joyful smile and a wave of his hand.

"Well hello there, newcomer. Care to join me?" He welcomed her on top of the RV and she took a seat a few feet from him, he sounded nice enough, but she wanted to be careful, just in case.

"J-just thought I w-w-would meet p-people." She answered, she really did want to meet the people in the camp, Dale understood and looked around the camp.

"Hmm, well, most of the women are down at the quarry doing laundry, some others are out and about. May not be able to meet a lot of people right now, sorry." He rubbed his white beard thoughtfully. "But you're most welcome to stay up here with me if you like."

She looked up to Dale and offered a thankful crooked smile. Laura had a good view of the camp from on top of the RV, it was really something. The people she could see were functioning like this was normal for them. She envied their ability to adapt so well, she still wished to be back at school studying her days away.

Laura stayed on top the RV, sitting contently on the roof as she watched the camp bristle with life. Dale enjoyed the company, even if she was quiet as a mouse. It wasn't until Rick had reemerged from his tent that she actually snapped her attention from the camp and to Rick.

"Hey Laura?" He stood in front of the RV. "I wanna take a look at that bruise if ya' don't mind, see if we can't take care of it."

Dale furrowed his brows, "Bruise?" She flicked her eyes to Dale before nodding. If Rick saw her face, her features, then he would know. Not only that, but her bite marks weren't exactly hidden well. She only had her jacket and full clothing to cover them up, she had three bites in total. The one that turned her initially where her neck met her collarbone on the right side of her neck, one on her right side, just a few inches from her spine, and the last one was in between her shoulder blades.

She didn't want Rick to know, she didn't want anyone to know, she'd just gotten there; she didn't want to be forced to leave, or killed, so soon.

Shaking her head, she remained on the RV's roof.

Her reply didn't please Rick, he was concerned about her, the punch Merle knocked her down with would've been painful, but allowing the bruise to fester and swell. He wouldn't allow it.

"Come now, Laura. You need to get it checked." Laura pulled her knees up to her chest. "I-I'm fine, h-honest."

Dale reached out to her like Jacqui had done. She flinched when his hand touched her shoulder. "You should listen to Rick, it could get bad. If you don't stop the inflammation, it'll feel worse later on."

"I'm fine." She insisted, wrapping her arms around her legs and held them tightly to her chest.

Rick sighed, hands on his hips, and shook his head. "Laura, ya' took a really bad hit, at least let someone look at it." He looked back up to her, he was hoping she'd give in and let him deal with it. He hadn't known the girl long, but he'd been in situations where women as shy as her got hurt, they always refused help and tried to tell everyone they were fine.

She stubbornly shook her head.

Dale and Rick both looked at her oddly, like they were waiting for her to offer some kind of explanation. All she did was repeat herself. "I'm fine."

Rick wanted to take care of her, he felt the force of Merle's punch, it nearly knocked him out and he was rather used to getting hit. Laura wasn't, he thought she wasn't, but she didn't really make a reaction after Merle had hit her. In fact, he distinctly remembered she did absolutely nothing, didn't even favor that side of her face.

"Laura, please. I can get one of the women here to help you with it if you want." She shook her head again, "But you need to have it checked."

"No, I'm a-alright. R-really Rick." She winced at the sound of her voice, it was little more then the squeak she'd let out earlier.

Rick contemplated reasons why she wouldn't want anyone to even look at the black eye that had to been hurting by now. Understanding what was stopping her from accepting help could make it easier for him to get her help without making her uncomfortable. He remembered how she didn't like people touching her, like just a few moments ago when Dale had simply put a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, how 'bout this?" He tried to make a deal with her, anything to get her help. "I won't touch you, at all. All you have to do is pull up your hood, just a little bit, so I can see if there is any serious damage. If there isn't, I'll leave you alone and not bother you 'bout it again. If there is a problem, real damage done, then you can pick out anyone you want to help you."

Again, Laura refused. She sunk her head into her arms, her face barely visible from his position.

He got it then, right then, she wore that hoodie to hide herself. She didn't want people looking at her, Rick couldn't think why in the world she'd be so worried about her appearance, but many domestic abuse victims would often react this why when they'd been hurt.

"Laura." He spoke quietly, "Can we at least talk about this?"

He waited to hear her answer, but she never replied, only stood up and headed over to the ladder of the RV to get down. He took that as a yes, she was willing to talk, but still wouldn't accept help.

She kneeled down and put a foot on the ladder, swung her braced leg off the edge. She had to move carefully, couldn't risk making her leg any worse then it already was.

Like he did in Atlanta when he noticed her having trouble with the stairs, Rick climbed up the ladder partially, wrapped an arm around her thighs high enough to allow her to sit on his shoulder. He got down easily and set her down on the ground without a complication.

Laura went straight to her tent and Rick was right behind her, they both fit in the tent just barely.

She sat down on the far side of the tent and faced the exit of the tent, Rick kneeled down in front of her. Laura's head was down, Rick could only see her mouth which was pulled into a tight frown.

"Will you let anyone look at it? See if there is any serious damage?" He asked calmly, Rick had convinced people before to come forward about their issues, but at the end of the world, walkers eating people, he wasn't so confident he could actually identify why she was so adamant about this.

A few silent minutes passed before she nodded, yes, she would let someone look. He was relieved, he hated the idea of leaving her alone to deal with it by herself. Past experience taught him that that was possibly the worst thing to do.

"Who? I'm sure they'll be happy to help." Rick tilted his head to the side, he was worried about her.

She lifted her head a little, he could see only part of her face. "You."

Rick, taken aback a little, raised his brows. "But... you don't want me to?" He could see that she was very reluctant to even show her face up to her nose, however, she would let Rick take a look at her black eye, so he didn't want to scare her.

He hadn't seen Merle knock her down, he was still reeling from when Merle clocked him. Rick had always hated people who hurt others just because they weren't as strong or tough as them. He felt a little responsible because of it, she tried to help T-Dog and only managed to get herself hurt.

He saw her fidget, whatever it was she wanted to tell him was making her very uncomfortable.

"You can tell me anything," Rick tried to calm her down. She raised her hands to her face and rubbed her nose and eyes, a sniffle made him very aware that she was starting to cry. "Hey, it's alright. I'm here, it's okay." He put his hands on her arms and rubbed them, he froze when he saw her face. All of it.

She looked a little like a walker. Her eyes were white, but there was a very faint green behind the white though, the sclera of her eyes was darker then her iris. Her skin was blueish, which he'd kind of saw before, but assumed was a trick of the eyes and her face, the thin gaunt look, she was staring straight at him and he was staring right back. Rick didn't move an inch when he saw her face, he didn't dare.

Laura had taken painful notice of his alarm. In her head she was pleading with him, to just let her explain. To give her a chance before he put a bullet in her head.

She felt her heart rate beginning to race, "R-Rick," Laura gulped, "I w-was a w-walker."

Rick stared at her as she pulled back her hood completely, her face wasn't dead, but it definitely wasn't normal. She was so very pale that if Rick thought about it long enough, he would've swore that she didn't have any blood coursing through her.

His hesitance to do anything made her terrified, which was the exact opposite of Rick had intended. There was just too many things rushing through his head that he couldn't control himself well enough to cover up his shock and that little bit of fear that was slowly creeping it's way into Rick's head.

"S-say s-s-something, p-please." She begged, reaching up to lightly hold his forearms. He looked down, he hadn't moved an inch since he saw her face. His hands were still on her arms.

Rick released her and leaned back, running a hand roughly through his hair, he hadn't a clue what to think of this. It was impossible right? To be a walker then to just, suddenly, not be a walker. As far as he knew walker's didn't work like that. Then again, he hadn't been part of this apocalyptic world for very long, with the way Laura was treating it, this wasn't a very common thing.

"I... don't know what to say." That only seemed to succeed in crushing her heart further, he winced when he saw this. Laura didn't know Rick well, or at all really, and she knew she was very gullible, but she had to tell someone and Rick was a very level headed person. He had been able to keep his head about him when faced with almost certain death. Laura had been paying attention when Rick had made all the plans, when he spoke he always got his point across.

She nodded, looking down and rubbing her eyes dry, tears still stung but she was able to keep her emotions in check. "A-ask me a-a-nythin' a-about it, I w-won't h-hold nothin' back."

He chewed his bottom lip, "Alright, you're not a walker anymore, how is that possible?"

"M-my father is a s-s-scientist, w-when I got b-bit, he u-u-used me to f-find a cure. He f-f-finally f-found a w-way to give b-back s-sentience." She answered as quickly as she could, she didn't want Rick doubting her. She said she wasn't going to hold back and she meant it.

"Your father made a cure?" Rick was actually quite hopeful about this, a cure meant a way to fight back against getting infected.

"As f-far as I k-know, the bes-st he could do w-was the o-one h-he used on me." She held a hand over where her heart was, feeling the heart beat faintly every few minutes. "B-but it d-doesn't r-return a w-walker b-back to n-normal, i-it just g-gives me b-back free w-will, I can t-think and f-feel again."

"Well, that's still good." Rick was both thrilled and disturbed by this news, the cure didn't make a walker human again, just gave them back morality. Which was the point he figured. "Where is your father now? Why aren't you with him?"

Her shoulders fell, he assumed that meant he died, but she erased that thought. "Even a-after I was c-cured h-he kept e-experimenting o-on me, i-it h-hurt. W-when our house w-was overrun, w-we es-s-scaped and w-w-when I g-g-got the c-chance, I r-ran. I c-c-couldn't t-take the te-s-st's anymore, t-they only g-got wors-s-e a-and w-worse."

Rick felt a sharp pang of sympathy for the young woman, she hadn't tried to bite them or eat them, so she clearly lacked her walker instincts. At least, he hoped she had. But a father experimenting on his own daughter? That just wasn't right.

"Do you... eat people?" Her eyes snapped up to his, "Oh n-no, no! I w-would never!" Rick felt a great deal of relief at that, he just had a few more questions about her state.

"Laura, I really need you to be honest with me." He stared straight into her eyes. "If you scratch someone, or bite them like a walker would, can you turn other people?"

Weight was lifted from his shoulders when she shook her head quickly. "N-no, I c-c-cannot turn p-p-people."

"Well then, I guess... If you're telling the truth, you don't eat people like a walker, you can't turn someone, and you're completely human again... There isn't a problem." He tried to give her a reassuring grin, but it was half-hearted. He didn't want to think of this woman as one of them, but she just told him she had been.

"T-thank you, R-Rick." She smiled sadly, "I w-wasn't g-goin' ta' c-c-come here on a-a-account of m-my... p-previous i-infection, b-but I w-w-was k-kinda' t-tired of b-being a-a-alone."

He was still worried about it, found it a little hard to believe, but he wasn't going to argue over it. He was still so new to this whole walker infested world. "Does anyone else know?"

She just shook her head.

"Good, let's keep it that way as long as we can." Rick didn't want to keep this a secret, but he very much believed that no one else in the camp would be so open minded about it as he was. Possibly due to the fact that he'd only awoken from a coma into this apocalyptic world. "Is this why you stutter?"

"Y-yes, I d-d-don't h-heal n-normally. It t-t-takes m-much longer for m-me to r-r-recover." She gestured to her leg. "W-when I w-was first b-b-bit, I b-broke my leg, h-hence, the b-brace. It t-takes me l-longer to h-heal t-then it would you or a-anyone e-else."

"We should try to cover up your bite, with luck, no one will be able to notice it." Rick realized there are more ways for people to discover her, he wanted to help her. "Where were you bit?"

She unzipped her hoodie and shrugged it off. Pulling down the neck of her shirt, she revealed the bite. The wound was already scarred over, the teeth marks served as evidence of her infection.

"I w-w-was bit a f-few times a-a-actually." She turned around, her back to Rick, and pulled up her shirt so he could see her back, the bites there weren't as serious as the one on her neck.

He ran his thumb against the one on her shoulder blade and the moment he did she shot forward leaning away from him. Rick withdrew his hand and let her come back before he took a closer look at the bites. The one on her shoulder blade looked like the skin around it had been torn away when the bite happened. The scarred skin made him realize that it had healed on its own, it wasn't treated at any given point in time. It scarred in the same shape as the wound was, the teeth marks were very clear, the previously torn skin made him grimace. It must've been painful.

Rick had seen her do that before every time someone touched her without her consent or knowing about it beforehand, like shaking hands or when he had carried her down stairs.

"You seem to be very tense around people, are you okay?" The bites were already scarred over, he couldn't do anything about them. Maybe he could try to find some of Lori's makeup to try and hide them better, but that wouldn't help much.

He did, however, notice all the bruises on her. She was literally a plethora of rainbow bruises.

Laura looked over her shoulder, "I..." Rick glanced up to her face, she looked sad, like she was thinking about something that bothered her deeply. "I r-ran into b-bad p-people in the c-city. I'm j-just... not u-used to p-people being s-s-so nice to me. I f-feel like e-every t-time s-someone touches me, t-that they're j-just gonna' a-add to m-my i-injuries... I-if t-that makes a-any s-s-sense." Laura huffed sarcastically to herself, she felt dumb thinking that these people would snap and beat her up for no reason at all. Made her want to smack herself.

Rick got the idea, she seemed distant after she'd answered him, she didn't say anything specific and so long as it wasn't anything that compromised these people, he figured she didn't have to say anything she didn't want to.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, these are good people." He met a few of them already, it was strange to see people surviving like this. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't happy about it all though. "These people will take care of you."

Laura accepted his words and Rick finished cleaning the angry bruises and cuts on her back. "You have any bruises or anything anywhere else? You said you had injuries."

She turned around, lifting her shirt up completely. At first, Rick adverted his eyes a little stunned at her, but he saw what she was showing him. There were bruises on her waist, some disappeared under the belt of her pants, the others... He was a cop once, before all this, and he was very familiar with the signs of sexual assault and he knew at that moment why she jumped whenever someone touched her, she was dealing with trauma. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and ran a hand over his face.

"When did it happen?" He asked her, trying his hardest not to sound like he was being forceful, but the idea that someone hurt this poor girl, like that, he growled at the thought. She was always so shy, nervous, and unsure around people and he understood why now. Laura seemed like such a nice girl, he hated that someone went and took advantage of her.

She didn't know if he'd figure it out, but his question told her he knew. "A f-f-few days ago. G-got ca-caught by s-some bad men." She pulled her shirt back down, "G-got more, but p-pants are h-hard to t-take off with t-the b-brace o-on."

He let out a deep breath he hadn't notice he was holding in. This girl hadn't just helped them, she'd gone against her better judgement and own fears in order to get them out of there. It was a bold move, something he didn't think much about before and now he saw the extent of her actual pain, he couldn't help but worry over her now.

Rick rested a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry that happened to you." He meant it, but Laura just nodded and looked away. She was facing her worst fears, taking a brave step in the right direction and she'd been doing it alone. "Listen, Laura. If you ever want to talk, I'm right here. I'm sure some of the other women in this camp would listen too and it does good to talk about it."

"D-don't wanna' t-t-talk a-about it." She almost whined.

"I know, trust me, I get it." He held her shoulder firmly to assure her. "But you can't just bottle it up, you need to let it out sometime. I'm not saying you have to tell anyone, just that you may find talking to someone comforting." He smiled at her and while she appreciated his advice, she wasn't ready to talk about it.

"O-okay, Rick." Laura gave him a sad smile, "D-do you know w-where I c-can get cleaned up? It's b-been a l-long w-while s-since I w-was clean."

He just nodded and pointed to her face, "I still have to check that bruise." She grinned, "Aw, w-was hopin' y-you'd f-forget a-a-all about i-it." Rick huffed, "You aren't so lucky."

Rick reached out slowly, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. He carefully prodded the sensitive skin there, checking her reaction to see if Merle's punch had fractured anything. It appeared that Merle only hit over her eye, while painful, isn't as bad as a broken nose or a hairline fracture. She would twitch when he pressed too hard, but other then that, the bruise didn't actually look so bad. Considering her other injuries that is.

He leaned back, "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Rick sent her a satisfied grin, "If you want to get cleaned up, you may want to ask Dale about that. I'm not sure where everything is here just quite yet."

"T-thanks a-again, Rick, f-for g-givin' me a c-chance." Laura rolled her shoulders, pulling her jacket back on and her hood over her face.

"Don't worry about it, kid. The way I see it, you helped us out there, I ain't doing anything but returning the favor." He stood up and nodded his goodbye before leaving her tent.

The moment he was gone Laura groaned, she had been so worried about saying anything she only focused on the bad outcomes and didn't even think for a second that Rick would actually be so kind to her even after she told him she was a walker at one point. He was actually a great father figure, someone she could definitely look up to.

In the span of a single day she had joined a group of humans, told someone that she was a walker, and made a few new friends.

She wondered how Glenn would react if she told him she was a walker. Laura snickered, he'd probably scream and run for the hills.

Now that would be amusing.


	11. Back in the Big City

Laura never slept anymore, she didn't know why, but she never felt the need to nor the desire to. She just wasn't tired and she hadn't been since she was first cured.

After Dale told her she could use the shower in the RV, she felt so clean that she could almost hear her skin squeak when she rubbed her palms together. It made her so happy to have the old grime and blood from countless days spent in the city, she felt like she'd washed off the filth of a previous life. One she was only too happy to forget.

When night came, the group had surrounded a small ember fire and listened as Rick told them about how he had survived. Laura didn't know much about the man, but he'd been through so much in such a short span of time. Waking up in a hospital after being shot into a coma, finding the world had gone to hell and that his family was no where to be seen.

She felt so bad for him and what he had to deal with in order to get to where he was now. Rick had managed to make it out so far with only a few scratches here or there.

Then the group discussed what was going to happen when Merle's brother returned, how he'd react to being told Merle was handcuffed to a roof in the city. Then T-Dog told them he'd chained the door with a padlock, it served as more weight to the group and some relief. Knowing Merle was alive, that he hadn't been eaten alive by the undead actually made Laura happy, no one deserved to be chewed on like a dog toy, but it also meant that Merle was stuck on that roof. He'd dehydrate and die of thirst if the Georgia sun didn't fry his brain first.

She'd never thought she'd say it, but she wanted to help Merle.

The thought just made her shudder. Being around humans again already made her forget about the Voice, that it told her she shouldn't care whether or not Merle was cooked or eaten alive.

After a little while, everyone had started heading off to bed, but Laura was never tired. She headed to her tent for a little while, attempting to sleep even if she didn't feel like it, but she just couldn't. Like there was some figurative person throwing cold water on her face. There wasn't a single way she could get to sleep, she wasn't even comfortable laying down.

There was none of that satisfying feeling of after a long hard day, laying down and relaxing, the feeling of tired muscles unwinding. She felt nothing like that, her body was always unwound. Which was strange because she could tell anybody who asked the few moments in the last few months that she wasn't tense, which were few and far between.

Instead of trying to sleep, the concept about alien to her now, she got up, left her tent, and headed straight for the RV.

She climbed up the ladder as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb the people sleeping inside. When she got on the roof, she saw Shane sitting up there, shotgun resting against his leg, and staring off into space.

"What're ya' doin' up?" He looked over to her as she sat down on the roof.

"C-can't s-s-sleep." It wasn't a lie, she literally could not sleep. "J-just thought I'd c-come up a-and take a b-breather."

"You should try and sleep, y'all had a long day." Shane leaned back comfortably in his chair, "Would've figured you'd be passed out by now."

Laura shrugged, letting her braced leg lay flat and bringing her knee up and resting her chin on it. It was pitch black out, she knew that much, but she could see like it was day time. She could make out every last detail as if someone was shining a bright light on it.

She knew she would be up all night, but wasn't concerned, if she never felt tired, had no reason to sleep, that just meant they had someone on permanent watch, which was a nice benefit. It was extra security, something no one could complain about.

"So, you the same girl Glenn and Andrea were talkin' about a few days ago? The one that appeared out of nowhere and got them out of a bad spot." Shane remembered when the two had gotten back and Glenn was talking a million words per second about a girl who'd just showed up randomly and directed them away from a herd.

Laura was a little surprised by this, she was almost sure Glenn and Andrea hadn't said a thing about her little rescue attempt that day, judging by how Glenn hadn't brought up anything about her or the day they first met, except with Rick.

"Yeah, b-but that w-w-was a while ago." Her voice was quiet, she didn't feel so much stress on her throat when she spoke lowly. "S-surprised h-he even s-s-said s-somethin' 'bout it."

Shane chuckled, "Oh yeah, he said somethin' alright. He was talkin' about a girl he saw in the city, that she barely said a word and got 'em both out without bein' bitten." He was grinning at the memory, Glenn was excited about Laura. "Andrea said he tried to convince you to come back with them, told you about the group an' all that, but ya' denied it. I see you've changed your mind though."

She rubbed the back of her neck, "I did. W-wasn't an e-easy choice, but I t-thought t-that if t-there r-really is a g-group of s-s-survivors out t-there, then I s-s-should give it a s-s-shot."

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you decided to come along." He pointed out to the camp, "These people need hope, somethin' to hold onto and seein' a young girl like yourself alive and Rick comin' back, even with all that's goin' on, well, it makes them all feel a little bit safer, like you bein' here, alive, is a good omen."

"I'm n-no good o-omen." Laura shook her head and shivered, "I j-just g-got lucky. R-really, really, l-lucky."

He shrugged it off, "Whatever you did out there to survive, it clearly worked." He yawned, stretching out his arms. "Brings people hope, even if you didn't mean to."

She nodded but kept quiet after that, he was right though, people needed hope in these desperate times and she wasn't going to stop them if they thought her being alive and well meant that they had hope for themselves and their families.

Laura and Shane sat on watch together quite content in each others company. She caught Shane staring at her a few times, not in a strange or malicious way, but as if he was trying to read a book in the dark. Shane was interested in the young girl that showed up with Rick earlier that day, but he wasn't about to ask questions. He was glad to see other people had made it too.

* * *

By the time the sun began peaking up on the horizon, people were already getting up and about.

She watched them start their daily routines, gathering clothes for laundry, dealing with their water and food. Laura saw Rick exit his tent well after the people in the camp had woken up.

He looked much better then he did yesterday, like he was happier. Then again, why wouldn't he be? He was just reunited with his son and wife, to which everyone was equally shocked when they found out Rick was Carl's dad and Lori's husband. They were all happy really, to see a family together again with all the dangers in this world.

By the time Rick approached Glenn, she'd already been watching him glare at the people tearing apart his new car. She smiled at them, Glenn looked positively destroyed.

"Go ahead, strip it clean!" Glenn complained dejectedly. He really loved that car even though he'd only drove in it for little more then a few hours.

Rick left Glenn to mourn over the loss of his new car before joining his wife, Laura looked down the road to see Shane returning in his jeep. He'd left a little while ago, saying something about getting water for the camp.

The jeep pulled to a stop and Shane got out. "Water's here y'all, just a reminder to boil before use."

People started unloading the water, the containers ranged from cleaned gas cans, coolers, and lidded buckets. Laura stuck out her tongue, she had to make sure that if she was going to have some of that water, that she needed to make sure it came from either the cooler or the buckets. The idea of drinking water from a gas can disturbed her.

Her thoughts were sharply cut off by a shrill screech coming from the distance, she was instantly on her feet and when people started running, she leaped off the RV, landing hard but ignoring the throb in her leg.

She ran with the group, hurrying in the direction of the scream. As she was passing Glenn's car, she noticed a crowbar and took it with her, in the event that something did happen.

Lori had called out to Carl, a little girl's voice was crying for her mother followed by Carl calling for his dad too, the children both crying for help; someone passed Rick a weapon. She had a bad feeling about all this, she was hoping they didn't have to use it.

Could there really be walkers so far out?

Carl, Jacqui and a little girl Laura didn't know came rushing towards them, but Laura just followed Rick to what they'd run from.

Laura was right behind Glenn, the group coming around carefully to see a walker devouring a deer. She didn't think a walker could possibly chase down a deer, they'd outrun a walker so easily. Then she noticed three arrows embedded in the deer, someone had hunted this deer down only for a walker to snack on it first.

That someone would be very disappointed.

They all kept an eye out on the tree line, checking for more walkers while the one feasting on the deer hadn't even noticed them yet. They circled the walker until it was surrounded, people stood behind them as the walker started to look up from his meal to get a look at them all.

It was a good thing these creatures weren't intelligent.

Just as it was about to charge Rick, he whacked its head and the walker reeled back. Then they all started beating on it, the onlookers were sickened by the brutality, but it only lasted a short while before Dale swung his ax and decapitated the walker.

"That's the first one we've had up here," Dale pointed out, the group now relaxing a little. "They never come this far up the mountain."

One of the people who had been taking apart Glenn's car looked around for a moment, "They're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what."

She had to agree, there was just about nothing in the city at all. She couldn't even find a scrap of food while she was there, speaking of food, she was still mighty hungry.

A twig snapped, footsteps, that much was clear. Shane aimed his shotgun to the woods, they all held up their weapons, ready to defend themselves. It only sounded like one walker, there wasn't enough noise to indicate more. Laura swore the tension could be cut with a knife while they waited for the walker to show itself.

And, instead of the hungry, cannibalistic monster they expected to come roaming around the corner, was a man wielding a crossbow, who once looked up from his feet jumped back at the sight of a gun being pointed at him.

" _Jesus._ "

Shane lowered his gun, they all seemed to relax. They knew this man.

"Son of a bitch." The man came around the rocks, catching sight of the dead deer and the walker who had bitten into it. "That's _my_ deer!" He was pissed off as he approached the deer, inspecting the infected deer corpse.

"Look at it, all gnawed on," He came up to the walker and started kicking it's lifeless corpse. "By this filthy, disease bearing, motherless, poxy bastard." The group looked a little disgusted by his cruelty towards the dead walker.

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale shook his head, but only succeeded in being the mans new target.

"What do ya' know about it ol' man?" He got up in Dale's face, Shane put his shotgun between Dale and the man, he seemed used to this behavior. Which made Laura a little more uncomfortable. "Why don't you take that hat an' go back to On Golden Pond."

He turned around and began pulling out his arrows from the deer. He sighed, "Been trackin' this deer for miles." He pulled the last arrow out, "Gonna' drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. Whadd'ya think, think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He circled the neck where the walker had chewed on, but Laura hoped they knew better then to eat the infected deer.

"I would not risk that." Shane answered, he liked the idea of venison, but they could survive without it.

"It's a damn shame." He stared at the deer for a few seconds before facing them again, "I got some squirrel, about half a dozen or so, that'll have ta do."

Could this be...? Laura stared at the man a little longer, he looked a little like Merle, even had the same thick southern drawl. She figured this must be the brother, he had to be, unless there was someone else they were waiting for to come back from a hunt. He didn't seem as volatile as Merle did.

Then again, they're about to have to tell him where Merle is. That will get messy.

The walker head interrupted them, it's jaws clamping down. It couldn't move around, but it was still trying to bite them. Laura heard Amy behind her and saw Andrea lead her away before the hunter stepped up with his crossbow. "Come on people, what the hell." He shot a bolt into the decapitated walker head, put his boot on it's forehead and pulled the arrow back out. "It's gotta be the brain, don't y'all know nothin'?"

They all walked behind the hunter back to camp, none of them saying a single word until Laura heard him call out for Merle.

_Dammit_ , the man wielding the crossbow was Merle's brother.

"Merle!" He strode into camp, "Get yer ugly ass out here! Got us some squirrel. Stew 'em up."

"Daryl." Shane called to him, "Slow up a bit, I gotta' talk to you." Here it comes, the inevitable moment where they figure out if Merle's brother is as violent and loud as he was.

The man complied, he slowed down and turned to see Shane nearing him. "'Bout what?" Daryl looked a little worried now, "'Bout Merle?"

"There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said and Daryl just looked between Shane and the other people in the camp, like he was thinking about something. He took a few steps forward, turning his attention to the ground. "He dead?"

"Not sure." That only served to piss off Daryl further, who stepped up to Shane. "He either is or he ain't."

Laura rested her hand on her gun, clicking the safety off as Daryl got close to Shane. She wasn't about to let another person like Merle jump someone she liked just because they're pissed off.

Rick came forward, "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Laura definitely wasn't going to let anything happen to Rick, she couldn't stop Merle from beating up T-Dog, too afraid to fire a gun in the city out of fear of attracting more walkers. Out here, one gunshot wouldn't hurt anything.

"Who're you?" Rick was beside Shane now, "Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, got somethin' you wanna' tell me?" Daryl and Rick were face to face now, Merle's brother seemed to only get more and more irate as seconds went by. "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him to a roof hooked onto a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl turned around and right as Rick was talking to Daryl T-Dog had shown up. She was concerned about the man, not just because he got beaten up, but because he was angry at himself for Merle being stuck up on the roof.

"Hm, let me process this." He came back up to Rick, "You say you handcuffed my brother to a roof? And you left him there!"

"Yeah." Laura winced, Daryl hadn't done anything yet, but if Merle was any indication for the brother's attitude towards bad news, then he was just getting started. She knew Rick and Shane could handle themselves, especially against just one person, but she couldn't help herself.

Daryl stepped away for a moment and everything went quiet.

That was _before_ Daryl threw the bundle of squirrel's at Rick, who easily dodged them and right as Daryl went for Rick himself, Shane ran him into the ground. T-Dog rushed to them, but they all backed away when Daryl pulled out a rather large and dangerous looking hunting knife.

He went straight for Rick, swinging the blade only once before Rick was able to grab him and twist his arm behind his back, giving Shane enough time to run up behind Daryl and put him in a headlock, dragging him away from Rick.

Laura was now only a few feet behind Rick, she was ready, but they quickly got a handle on the situation.

"Best let me go!" Rick picked up Daryl's kife, "Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane forced Daryl to the ground, he couldn't get away from Shane's hold. Laura backed up then, seeing they had taken care of things.

"Choke hold's illegal." He was giving up fighting at this point, he knew he couldn't get Shane off him. "Yeah, better file a complaint." Daryl was still angry, that much was clear but Laura didn't really blame him for that part, granted, Merle was a pain in the ass, he was still Daryl's brother and had a bit of a right to be angry.

Rick kneeled in front of Daryl, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic, you think we can manage that?" Daryl didn't answer, he wasn't even looking at Rick. "Think we can manage that?"

They both knew he wasn't going to answer any time soon and Shane let him go. Both of the cops took a step back from the man, letting him breathe for a moment so they could have this _calm_ discussion.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick got close to Daryl, like he had done with Merle the day before. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault, I had the key." T-Dog spoke up, "I dropped it."

Daryl looked at him, "Couldn't pick it up?"

"I dropped it down a drain."

After a few moments, Daryl was on his feet again, but this time he wasn't gunning for anyone. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Then maybe this will," T-Dog caught Daryl's attention again, "I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at 'im, with a padlock."

"It's gotta' count for something." Rick was right, T-Dog may have dropped the key, but he risked his neck to chain that door up. Which is going to be the only reason Merle is still alive.

Then, he put the back of his hand to his face, the man was actually _crying_. Not sobbing or anything, but he was genuinely sad enough to _cry_ , at least a little bit. "To hell with all y'all." He tried to sound angry, but his voice was breaking off. "Just tell me where he is, so I can go get 'im."

"He'll show you, in't that right?"

They all looked at Lori who was staring back at Rick, who nodded back to the group. "I'm goin' back."

Laura's jaw tensed up, the hell was Rick thinking? Going back to Atlanta. It was dangerous for him, he knew that, he barely made it out alive the last time he was in Atlanta. However, Atlanta was just as safe as camp to her, she'd go with them both.

She checked her gun, she only had five shots, wouldn't do much good if a horde snuck up on them. She could deal with a pretty large number of them, but she wouldn't be able to save them all if they didn't keep their wits about them.

By the time Rick came out of his tent, she was already ready and waiting.

"-could you just throw me a bone here, man? Just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane followed Rick up to the camp site, he turned around and faced the distraught man.

"Hey, better choose your words more carefully." Daryl warned.

"Oh no, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane faced Rick again, "Merle Dixon," He spat out the name like it was poison. "Man wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dyin' of thirst.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't concern me. _I_ can't let a man die of thirst." Rick insisted, " _Me_ , thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap, that's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick turned away from a very disturbed looking Shane.

"You and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori queried.

Laura was going to, but she knew she couldn't hold off a horde if they were to come by one, but she could still help.

Rick put his hands on his hips and turned around to see Glenn, who hadn't noticed the look Rick was sending him until it was too late. "Oh come on."

"You've been there before, you know the way. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Glenn took off his hat and ran his hand over his hair. "It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you there, I know she would too." Lori did not look like she appreciated being used in Rick's argument to save Merle.

"Well that's just great, now you're gonna' risk three men, huh?" Shane was agitated, Merle was a bastard and they all knew it, he couldn't stand that right after Rick got back that he'd leave to bring back Merle Dixon.

"Four." T-Dog announced, to which Daryl scoffed, "Well my day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anyone else steppin' up to save your brothers' cracker ass?" Laura knew T-Dog was only coming along to right his mistake, dropping that key down the drain yesterday. She could easily tell the man wasn't the same since then.

"Why you?" Daryl sounded skeptical.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand, you don't speak my language." T-Dog remarked.

Dale sighed, "That's four."

"It's not just four, you're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick." Shane commented sternly, "You saw that walker, it was here, it was _in camp_. If they move out of the city and come back we need 'em here, we need 'em to protect camp."

"Seems like what you really need here... are more guns." Glenn recollected, "Right, the guns."

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked, "Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns." Laura blinked, that was a _lot_ of guns. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed, it's just sittin' there waitin' to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane was almost hoping there wouldn't be enough to warrant Rick leaving for Atlanta. "Over seven-hundred rounds, assorted." Shane twitched, they could really use those guns and that ammo.

"You went through hell to find us, you're just gonna' turn around and leave?" Lori was heartbroken, she _just_ got her husband back. "D-Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl said, which Laura could see was the only thing that really affected Rick.

"To hell with the guns," She growled, "Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives even with guns thrown in."

Shane had nothing to say, for once, because he knew the camp really needed more guns. They were desperate for weapons to defend themselves, they few they had didn't do them much good if a bunch of walker's waltzed up into camp one night.

"Tell me, make me understand." Lori stood up to Rick, "I owe a debt, to a man I met and his little boy." Lori swung around to look at Carl, "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow be to Atlanta, they'll walk into the same trap that I did if I don't warm 'em."

"What's stoppin' you?"

"The walkietalkie, in the bag I dropped, he's got the other one. The plan was to connect when we got close." Lori looked defeated by now, but she still wouldn't let him go without a fight.

Shane rubbed his jaw, "Is it our walkies?" Rick sighed, "Yeah."

"So use the CB, what's wrong with that?" Andrea offered.

"CB's fine, it's the walkies that suck, they're crap. Date back to the seventies, don't match any other bandwidth. Not even the scanners in our cars." Laura closed her eyes and groaned, what a terrible PD they must've had. Couldn't even afford to supply their officers with decent equipment.

"I need that bag." He stressed, Lori and him sharing a silent argument. She had nothing more to say, so Rick stepped around her and went to Carl. "Okay?" To which Carl only nodded.

Shane's jeep was moved so they could back the truck up to camp. Rick and T-Dog went to Dale and the other man, the one she figured was a mechanic.

Laura just hopped into the truck, they hadn't noticed her yet and she anticipated an argument when they did, but she could make a few excellent points. The guns, for instance, who was going to get them? T-Dog, Glenn, Daryl, or Rick? All it took is one bite or one scratch, even if it's as small as a needles point, they'd be dead. Not her though, she could skip into the street without a care in the world.

They could use her, lower the risk of something bad happening.

Unexpectedly, here was her first conversation, if it could be called that, with Daryl.

"The hell are you?" She heard him behind her, but she didn't think he'd actually talk to her. "L-Laura. I c-came back w-w-with R-Rick yes-s-sterday." She was aware, like before, that her stutter sounded like she was afraid, but she really wasn't. Daryl seemed far more tame then Merle, even though he did try to jump Rick.

"What're ya' doin' on the truck, we're leavin'." Laura looked to Rick and T-Dog talking to Dale and the mechanic, "Not y-yet it s-s-seems, gotta w-wait for t-them."

He seemed to catch her drift. "Uh uh, you ain't goin'. I'm ain't dealin' with some whiny ass woman."

Laura looked to Daryl. "This w-w-whiny ass w-woman can w-walk t-through a h-horde of w-w-walkers a-and not get h-hurt, c-can you?" His face was contorted, like he was thinking about something.

"Ain't possible, now get off." He didn't think she was being literal, he thought she was boasting and pointed out the back of the truck, but Laura remained still seated on the edge of the truck floor. "You deaf, I said get off!"

She just threw him a sarcastic grin, "W-when we g-get to Atlanta, t-trust me, y-you'll w-want me a-at your b-back then."

He spun around and honked the truck's horn to get their attention. "Come on, let's go!"

Shane and Rick stepped up to the truck, "You got any rounds in the python?" Rick shook his head, "No." Shane just grinned, he knew Rick couldn't have had any bullets.

Laura realized that meant when Rick put the gun up to Merle's head, that he couldn't kill him. He had no bullets.

"Last time we were on the gun range, sure I wound up with a few loose round of yours." He chuckled and dug in his bag, "You and that bag like the bottom of an old ladies purse."

Shane looked up, "I hate that you're doin' this man. I think that it's foolish and reckless, but if you're gonna' go, you're takin' bullets." Shane pulled out a few shells, "Not sure I'd want to fire off a shot in the city, not after what happened last time."

Laura could agree with that.

"That's up to you." Shane showed him the bullets, four, two in each hand. "Four men, four rounds. What're the odds, huh?... Let's just, let's just hope that four's your lucky number." He handed them to Rick. "Thank you."

As Rick got in the passenger side, Daryl came up behind him. "Get this dumb bitch off this truck." He ground out, Rick furrowed his brow and turned to see what Daryl was talking about. He saw Laura sitting in the truck, just waiting to go.

"Laura, what're you doing?" He asked, she just stood up and came to him.

"You k-know you n-need m-me, the city is t-t-too dangerous f-for you." She patted her holster, where her gun was safely strapped in.

Rick shook his head, "I can't have you going into Atlanta, it's not safe. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Rick, y-you know f-fine w-well, the o-only p-people likely t-to get hurt o-o-or killed o-on this t-truck is you g-guys." She shrugged, "S-sides, w-who're you g-gonna s-send a-after the guns? Y-you'll a-all be e-eaten b-before you l-lay a hand on t-that bag. I c-could do a w-whole d-damn ballet a-and still w-wouldn't g-get bit."

He nodded, then looked to Daryl. "She has a point."

The redneck huffed, "Whatever, I ain't watchin' her ass though."

"You don't have to," Rick looked back to Laura, "Isn't that right?"

She nodded firmly, "You g-got it Rick."


	12. A Break you Town

The drive wasn't too long, but when they got on the railroad, Laura practically bounced a foot in the air with every bump. She groaned in annoyance as they drove over the rails.

"Better be okay, i's my only word on the matter." T-Dog didn't want to repeat himself _again,_ but Daryl's persistence made him do so. "I told you, geeks can't get at 'im. Only thing that's gonna' get through that door is us."

Laura pulled at a lock of her hair, "Even if h-he is okay, I o-owe him a b-black eye." She smirked, earning and amused look from T-Dog.

"Black eye?" Daryl questioned, "B-bastard j-jumped T-Dog, t-tried ta' g-get him off. Y-your brother c-can throw a punch." She rubbed her sore eye, as if showing him what went down on the roof.

The hunter nodded, he was only really interested in finding Merle, the rest will be sorted out later.

The truck came to a stop. "We walk from here." Glenn said, turning off the van. Daryl jumped up and lifted the door, he got out, then T-Dog, and Laura followed them closely.

She remembered the stairs, they weren't so good to her. They would have to climb that same stair well to reach Merle, she hoped Rick wasn't against carrying her up those stairs one more time.

They jogged up to the gate and swung it open. She followed them to a hold in the fence that Glenn had most likely made quite some time ago. Smart kid. She smirked and they all ducked through the fence and hopped the railing.

"Merle first, or guns?" Rick looked to Glenn for the answer.

"Merle, we ain't even havin' this conversation." Daryl protested, only for Rick to glare at him. "We are." He snapped and Daryl didn't pursue it any further.

"You know the geography, it's your call." Rick told Glenn, the group gaining speed as they headed into the city. "Merle's closest, the guns would be doubling back. Merle first." Laura knew Daryl was at least somewhat pleased with that answer. Even though he didn't get to make the demand.

They had to duck in and out of a few places, to keep the walkers off their backs, but other then that they didn't have much of a problem reaching their destination.

Finally arriving at the department store, Laura took note that it hadn't taken long to get here, she didn't like the idea of them being in the city too long. The longer they stayed, the greater the risk and she despised the idea of them getting hurt for someone like Merle. Shane and Lori were right, that racist, sexist, ass would probably try and kill them when they showed up.

When they were just outside the door, Rick waved for her to come to him.

"Laura, go in first and tell us where the walkers are." He was already using her to his advantage. She nodded and opened the door, she walked straight in without a care in the world. Well, except the image of them in the back of her head being bitten and turned. That would be bad.

Daryl threw them a confused look, wondering why they were sending her in first.

Rick used hand signals for Daryl to cover her back, his crossbow was silent and wouldn't alert the walkers outside if he fired an arrow. He got the idea and did as asked, keeping close to her back.

She paused and looked around for a moment before jogging forward, faster then Daryl had expected her to go. He just figured she was suicidal.

Then, she approached a walker like it was an old friend and pointed to it, but it didn't react to her, it completely ignored her existence. Still confused, Daryl aimed the crossbow at the walker. "Damn, you are one ugly skank." The walker hissed at him right as his arrow pierced its skull and it fell.

Daryl grabbed the arrow and they continued on through the department store.

At the stairwell, Rick did the same thing. She wasn't intending on him doing so, but he just took it upon himself to pick her up and start running up the stairs. They were about to reunited with Merle, a terrible idea, but at least the asshole wouldn't suffer before he died.

When they reached the door, Rick set her down and made for the cutters. The chain snapped and they burst through the door, back onto the roof they very nearly died on. _They_ , not her.

**_That sounds so conceded._** She hated herself for thinking that, it was a horrible thought.

"Merle!" Daryl called out, expecting to find his brother cuffed.

The moment they saw the other side of the pipes though, well, it wasn't pleasant. Daryl screamed, crying out for his brother. Laura, T-Dog, Glenn, and Rick all just stared at the disembodied hand of Merle Dixon.

What a hell of a way to start the day.

The blood soaked hand, cuffs, and saw told them that he hadn't been devoured, nothing so strange, but actually _cut off_ his own hand to escape. He must've thought they weren't going to come back for them, that'd they just leave him to die and, while in some cases that would've been true, they had actually risked their lives to come find Merle.

Daryl was angry, sad, lost, he didn't find his brother, he found his brother's _hand_. Which is probably one of the single most disturbing things to find when looking for something.

She could barely believe Merle severed his own hand with a hacksaw. There it was again, she always had to correct herself when thinking about Merle. He was exactly the type of person who'd cut off his own hand. Laura couldn't see him being any other way.

With a pained growl, Daryl aimed his crossbow at T-Dog, who put his hands up. Rick reacted fast and aimed his gun at Daryl's head, making the anguished man pause.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Laura was on the platform above the pipes as she brought out her gun and aimed it at Daryl too, but didn't say anything to them. It was for added insurance in case Daryl wanted to try his luck.

She could see Daryl's face, it was twisted in anger or rage, he was destroyed. His brother was gone, he was hurting.

He lowered his crossbow easily, as if it he didn't care for shooting T-Dog in the first place.

Daryl looked at his feet and Rick holstered his gun, keeping a watchful eye on the unstable man. Laura put hers away as well, there was something about Daryl that told her he wasn't going to shoot even if Rick hadn't put a gun to his head.

T-Dog and Daryl were looking straight at each other for a few seconds before Daryl blinked and shook his head, he was trying to not let anyone see tears in his eyes.

"You got a do-rag or somethin'?"

He cautiously handed Daryl a piece of material, to which Daryl took and whipped out. He laid it flat in front of the hand, "I guess the, uh, saw blade was too dull for the handcuff."

Laura felt so bad for Daryl, Merle may have been a jackass and delivered one hell of a blow, but the only reason Daryl was snapping at everyone, aiming crossbows and swinging knifes at them, was because he was worried about his brother. Laura never had any siblings, but she knew what it was like to lose someone.

Perhaps she would try to talk to him later? Would he even listen or bite at her like Merle did?

He wrapped the hand in the bandanna and stood back up, turning around to see them all a little sickened by the severed hand. He cut it off _himself_ , it must've been excruciating.

Daryl walked up to Glenn and put the wrapped up hand in the backpack. Laura hadn't a clue why the hand was important to him, but he wasn't going to leave it here. Glenn did not look too happy about it, he'd have to deal with knowing he had Merle's hand in his pack.

Once satisfied with the safety of Merle's hand, he inspected the area.

"Must'a used a tourniquet, he would've lost more blood if he didn't." Daryl followed the trail of blood, Rick and Glenn behind him.

T-Dog went over and collected the tool bag, she noticed him holding his side whenever he moved too much. "T-Dog, you alright?" She asked, seeing him wince as he bent down to gather tools.

She went to help him, finding bits and pieces scattered all over. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just... Dixon, y'know? Not Daryl, but Merle. Why'd he have to go an' do that shit?" Laura shrugged, "I guess he felt like he had to."

"Guess so, did kinda' leave him on a roof." He frowned, they'd gotten all the tools and Laura offered to carry them, on account of T-Dog's bad side. He relented, the bag was a little heavy, but T-Dog's side must've been hurting pretty bad too. Merle did quite the number on the man and Laura knew how difficult it was to even move around when having to deal with pain.

They caught up with the group up ahead going down _another_ damn stairwell.

She'd have to deal with this on her own, they needed to be alert for walkers. She moved slowly, one step at a time, but T-Dog put his forearm under hers so she could use him to balance better. Laura moved a little faster with T-Dog's help and when they caught up with Rick, Glenn, and Daryl, they watched Daryl drop another walker.

They came through a doorway and saw two walkers dead on the floor, Daryl walked around the corpses. "Had enough in 'im to take out these two sum'bitches. One handed." She saw a wrench next to a pool of walker blood, she assumed that was Merle's weapon of choice.

"Toughest asshole I ever met my brother." Daryl reloaded his crossbow with a loud snap. "Give him a hammer and he'd crap out nails."

Somehow, Laura didn't doubt that.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." Rick pointed out, he wanted to find Merle, get the guns, and get back to camp without complications. "No matter how tough he is."

They continued through the building, only a few walkers here and there that Daryl had quickly dispatched.

Laura nearly jumped when Daryl called out, "Merle!"

"We're not alone here." Rick was politely telling Daryl to shut the hell up.

"Screw that, could be bleedin' out. Said so yourself." Daryl lead the group into another room, one that smelled like gas fire. She was right about that, because when she saw the stove, it's rings still burning, Daryl went to check the room and Rick just stopped at the stove.

"What's that black stuff?" Glenn almost regretted asking it when he got his answer.

"Skin." Rick grimaced, looking between Glenn, T-Dog and her. "He cauterized himself." Glenn turned away, the sight of it made his stomach churn.

Daryl stood next to Rick now, looking over the stove. "Told ya' he was tough." He almost smirked, "Ain't nobody can kill Merle, but Merle." Daryl was smug about it, looking proud of his own brother for taking care of himself.

"Don't take that on faith." Rick put the iron back back. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah?" Daryl walked over to a window, "Didn't stop him from bustin' outta' this death trap."

Glenn was freaked, seeing the broken glass. "He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he? He's out here alone for all he knows." Daryl backed away from the window, "Doin' what he's gotta' do. Survival."

"You call that survival?" T-Dog shook his head, "Just wanderin' out on the streets, maybe passin' out. What are his odds out there?" He made a valid point, but Laura knew what it was like to survive on ones own.

"No worse then bein' left to rot by you sorry pricks." Both Glenn and T-Dog looked like they just got slapped.

Laura rolled her eyes, "D-Daryl's gotta' point. W-when you're o-out there alone, y-you do what you m-must to s-survive, e-even if it looks like ya' ain't gotta c-chance in h-hell at s-survivin'." That got her a few interested looks from T-Dog and Glenn, Daryl just nodded back to her.

Daryl faced Rick. "You couldn't kill 'im, ain't worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story." Rick and Daryl kept very tense eye contact, Laura was worried another _Merle_ -like incident was about to happen, but Daryl didn't do anything that she would've expected Merle to do.

"Why don'tcha take a tally? Do what ya' want, I'mma go get 'im." He was about to walk passed Rick, but the sheriff put a hand in his way and shoved him back, Rick made it look like he didn't even _try_.

"Get yer hands off me! You can't stop me!" Glenn made a shushing sound, Daryl was getting louder and louder; they didn't want to get trapped in another building again.

"I don't blame you, he's family, I get it. I went through hell to find mine, I know exactly how you feel." Laura felt a little out of place at this, these two people, Rick and Daryl, had a commonality now, one she didn't understand very well. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, it was another one of those moments where she felt she was prying into other peoples' business.

Daryl looked like he wanted to say something, his mouth twitching to find a retort. "He can't get far with that injury. We can help you check a few blocks around, but only if we keep a level head."

He calmed down, no longer looking like he was ready to kill them all. "I can do that."

Rick looked to the others, "Only if we get those guns first, I'm not strollin' through Atlanta with only my good intentions." They could understand that.

Laura shrugged once she saw Glenn wasn't going to say anything. "Y-you know I'm here f-for whatever you a-ask of me. I'm better s-suited to stroll around A-Atlanta with my g-good i-intentions. Walkers a-appreciate mine I g-guess." She smiled at T-Dog, she knew where he was coming from. This group, these humans, were hunted by undead, she was not.

Rick got the idea, he knew it was only them in danger and Laura had chosen to stay and help out of sheer good will.

They wanted to plan, but Laura didn't need one, she had an idea of where the gun bag was and didn't need to do any fancy tricks to get to it.

They all rested in the next room while Laura made her part known. She was here for this express reason, to remove danger and lend her hand in the only way she knew how, by walking through walkers.

"We were going to have Glenn make the run before you offered to join us back at camp." Rick explained, but Laura shook her head. "Y-you know f-fine well I can g-get those guns w-without a p-problem."

"You're not going out there alone." Rick insisted, she knew it would be safe for them in here though.

"I can g-get down t-there, grab the g-guns and be b-back in only a f-few m-minutes." Laura rubbed the back of her neck, "Rick, if y'all g-go d-down there, y-you'll be r-riskin' your necks f-for nuthin'. Y-you know I c-can do this."

"I can't just let you go down there alone, if something goes wrong..." She sighed, "Fine, t-then, I don't h-have any i-ideas about w-where y'all should g-go though."

"I do." Glenn spoke up, he was happy he didn't have to go out on that walker infested street again. He took up a marker from the desk behind him and drew out the streets the guns were at.

"This is the tank," He put a paper clip down, "This is the bag of guns." He used a little piece of notepaper.

He pointed to one of the alleys, "This is where Laura will be coming out of to get the guns." Glenn marked the spot. "That's where Daryl and Laura will go."

"Why me?" Daryl was leaning over, watching Glenn make plans.

"Your crossbow is quieter then his gun." Daryl understood, grinning and winked at Glenn. "Daryl will wait here in the alley, while Laura runs up the street and grabs the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick was kneeling before Glenn's makeshift planning board.

"R-Rick, this is u-unnecessary. Y'all are risking y-your l-lives for s-something I can d-do alone." She didn't want them on the streets at all, she came along with this group to try and _remove_ a risk factor, this is just as bad as if she hadn't come along at all.

"Laura, I can't knowingly let you risk your life for us again. Let us help in whatever way we can, call it insurance." She sighed, agitated at Rick's stubbornness. "A-alright, but t-they need to be s-somewhere that they can get away if t-they need to. There is a l-lot of walkers d-down there."

"Yeah, that's why we'll be here." He put an eraser down.

"Two blocks away, why?" Rick looked a little confused, that sounded risky.

"If something goes wrong, for whatever reason, and the walkers go after her. She can't lead a bunch of walkers back to Daryl, they'll both get swarmed." He pointed to Daryl's spot on in the alley, "Laura, if you get chased, you can't go back to Daryl, just keep going forward to T-Dog and Rick."

"No matter where she goes, she'll be covered." Glenn had a good plan, but she still hated the idea of letting them even get close to that horde on the street. "Afterwards we'll all meet back here."

"Hey kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl figured he must've done something to show for this.

"Delivered pizzas." Glenn looked inquisitive. "Why?"

Rick just looked a little bit surprised. A _little_ bit.

It explained how Glenn knew all the streets though.

A little while later and Laura was heading out to the streets with Daryl at her back. T-Dog, Rick, and Glenn had already gone to the other alley Glenn planned out for them.

Daryl looked a little unsure about sending Laura out to get the bag of guns. "Ya sure you can run out there and grab those guns, on account a', y'know." He gestured to her braced leg.

"W-walker's don't c-come after me. I-it's you guys I'm w-worried about." They'd reached the small platform that Glenn, Rick, and her had been on just the day before. It was like deja vu, except without Glenn and Rick.

"Whadda' mean?" They climbed out the window, Daryl was actually holding out his hand to help her through. Very unexpected, but welcome, he took his hand and got through the window.

"I mean, w-walker's don't w-wanna eat me. N-never have. I c-can poke them, s-shove them, t-touch them, talk to t-them, all a-around do whatever in the h-hell I want to t-them. T-they don't give a s-shit. Unlike w-what would h-happen if you t-tired any of that s-stuff." She chuckled, time to climb down another stupid ladder.

"Serious?" He asked, he went down first, Laura not too far behind him. "Serious."

Near the bottom, Daryl jumped down and saw her hopping down one bar at a time. He got on the ladder, climbed back up a little ways and just like Rick had done yesterday when she was coming down off the RV, Daryl wrapped an arm around her legs and carried her down the rest of the way.

How could this man _possibly_ be related to Merle?

"Thanks." She grinned at him, brushing herself off. He just shrugged her thanks off and pulled out his crossbow.

They headed to the fence, "Just s-stay hidden. W-walkers won't bother you n-none if you don't s-stand out in the o-open or m-make a ton of n-noise. I'll be b-back fast as I c-can."

Daryl loaded his crossbow and stuck himself behind a dumpster, he'd wait for her here. With any luck, walker's wouldn't take any notice of him and they'd be able to get out of there with the guns easily.

She ran out into the street, the walkers didn't even look at her while she ran through them, shoving a few over in the process. She realized she kinda' did it for fun, because it was amusing watching them being knocked over only to get up and continue on like nothing ever happened.

With a snicker, she jumped over the sand bags and looked around for the guns. Glenn said they were just behind the tank in the middle of the street.

There, a big bag of guns and a sheriff hat.

She swung the bag on her back and stuck the hat on over her hoodie, she liked it, but it was far too big for her.

Heading back to the alley, she heard the distinct sound of someone shouting. She hadn't a clue what they were saying, but it wasn't good for whoever was making all that noise. It echoed through the alleyways, she couldn't tell where it was coming from.

That is, until she came back into the alley where Daryl was waiting for her.

He was still there, but getting beat up by two strangers who were distracted from beating on Daryl by her. "That's it, that's the bag! Take it!" She was so shocked that it took her a few seconds to react.

Everything happened so fast she could barely keep up.

She turned to run, but they were on her. The big one grabbed her and punched her clean on her ass, the other opting to whack her with the bat while she was down.

The _fwip_ of an arrow caught one of the men who screamed as an arrow became embedded in his ass. He was too preoccupied with the arrow in his ass to grab the bag and the other one had grabbed Laura and used her as a shield from Daryl who was still aiming his crossbow at them.

He used the bat to hold her back as she fought to get free. "Let go of me! Let go!" He pulled harder, dragging her back with him. All she could think about was the men who had captured her before she met the group, she didn't want to go through that again. Rick was right, she regretted, if anything, not talking about it now.

"Daryl!" She cried out, trying to claw the man behind her. "Daryl help me! Please!"

She was shoved into the car before she even got the chance to see where it came from, the man got in behind her and they took off. "Get away from me, assholes!"

"Shut up!" She was forced between two men, one still crying about the arrow in his ass. "Let me go! You jackasses! Let me go!" She struggled to get out of their hands, but one man pulled out a roll of duct tape and stuck a piece over her mouth, pulled down her hood and stuck a sack over her head. She still tried to make some kind of sound, but it was useless. Instead, she tried to punch or claw the men.

"Damn, woman, calm the fuck down!" They got a hold of her arms, effectively stopping her from hitting them anymore and tied her hands behind her back.

_Shit_. She didn't like this, she was panicking, her mind going to very dark places in her head, her memories of the dark rooms and men who used and beat her. After her ordeal, she swore she wouldn't let it happen again, yet here she was in a car with strangers who'd attacked her friend and forced her into a car with them. Laura was at a loss, she didn't want to know what they were going to do with her.

The car was screeching around corners, they were all talking in another language and so fast she could barely tell it was a language. The man Daryl shot was practically shouting over the others who she could tell were trying to calm him down.

She thought telling Rick about being a walker was bad, within twenty-four hours she had joined a group, helped them out of a tight spot, told Rick about being a walker, made friends with a few of them, got her own tent, returned to Atlanta, found Merle's hand, and now she was in a strange car with people she didn't know.

They couldn't help her, wouldn't be able to find out where she was or where they were taking her.

It was just like Daryl said, only she'd hoped she wouldn't have had to do this again. She had to find her own way out, escape, _again_ , and hopefully find her way back to the group.

_Yeah, all that while riding a unicorn._ She cursed to herself. This was not a good place to be in.

They pulled to a stop, her heart jumped. The doors opened and they pulled her out. She couldn't see anything, they just dragged her along until they sat her down.

Yanking off the sack, she looked around to see a large number of people standing around her now. Her eyes grew wide in fear at the sight of them, each one heavily armed and clearly looked very familiar with their weapons.

"So, what are you supposed to be? Some new kind of zombie?" A man walked up to her, they all seemed to stand back and let him talk to her.

She glared as best she could, her mouth still duct taped. He grabbed the edge and tore it off, she gritted her teeth as the tape came off. "So what are you? You look like one of them, but you can talk."

"I'm not a d-damn walker." She spat, she glanced around the room nervously.

"Walkers, huh?" He licked his lips, following her eyes around the room. "Tell you what, how about you tell us were your friends went with our guns and maybe I'll think about letting you go."

"M-maybe?" She scoffed, "Not m-much of a d-deal there."

"How about this then." He leaned in close. "You tell us where they took those guns and you get to live."

She just looked down and shook her head. "Well, we all g-gotta go s-someday, right?"


	13. Bad News Guys

They left her alone for quite some time, but not before slapping duct tape back over her mouth and covering her head with the sack again. She was really getting tired of the sack.

It'd been about an hour or so by the time she heard footsteps again.

She couldn't see anything really, not because it was dark, she saw perfectly fine in the dark, it was just the sack was so thick that the best she could see was shadows that blocked the little bit of light she got.

There were two sets of footsteps, one on either side of her. They lifted her out of the chair and dragged her along with them again.

She resisted, to the best of her ability anyways. Fighting them at every chance she got, she heard more people, speaking in another language that she couldn't understand.

Laura was petrified, she hated being here, she hated being trapped and feeling so helpless. The man from earlier wanted the gun bag, an extension of that would be giving up her friends. Well, the closest thing she's ever had to friends anyways, they were kind people even if they didn't get along all the time. She wasn't about to risk them just because she was scared.

If they were going to do anything to her, she hoped they'd just kill her.

Apparently, they had other plans.

They were pulling her up stairs which she constantly tripped over and nearly ended up with her face meeting very unmerciful stairs. When they got her to wherever they wanted her, she could feel a breeze and the strange sensation of being high up.

She heard voices but couldn't make them out until they brought her closer to their destination.

"-Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me." She was confused, that was the man from earlier, she could recognize the voice, but what was going on?

"Heat of the moment, mistakes were made." Laura's heart skyrocketed at the familiar voice. It was Rick! They'd found her, they actually found her. She didn't know how or why, she was just too happy to even think about anything other then seeing them again. "On both sides."

"Who's that dude to you anyways, you don't look related."

"He's one of our group, more or less." She still couldn't get over the idea of Rick being down there. She wondered who he had with him, who came to save her. "I'm sure you have a few like him."

"You got my brother in there?" That was undoubtedly Daryl, still looking for Merle. She just hoped he remembered she was here too.

"Sorry, fresh outta' white boys, but I got a zombie girl. Interested?"

"I have one of yours, you have one of mine, sounds like an even trade." She begged this man would just let her go, Laura couldn't stand being here. All she could think about was being strapped down to a table in the lab or being tied up by those men who violated her. It scared her stiff knowing that she was in the same situation, unable to fight her captors.

"It don't sound even to me." Laura groaned _._ _Just let me go, please._ "My people got attacked, where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"

"Guns?" _Oh no,_ He wanted the guns. Would Rick really compromise with him for her? He only knew her for about a day, she thought of him as pretty friendly, someone she could see herself enjoying his company like family. But would he really risk losing those guns, the camp needed those guns to protect themselves.

"The bag Miguel saw on the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

God, how she wished she could see what was going on. Rick was holding one of these people hostage too? Is that why the man threatened her earlier?

"You're mistaken."

Laura almost died right there.

"I don't think so."

"About it being yours." _Okay, time to negotiate the price down a little. Come on, haggle Rick haggle!_ She whined a little, there were still two men flanking her and she couldn't see anything, there wasn't a way she could escape so that Rick wouldn't have to choose those guns over her. Laura figured he would, needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and she was one person who had just shown up yesterday.

Rick would have to keep the guns, she wasn't worth the supplies. The camp _needed_ those guns badly.

"That bag was in the street, anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word?" If Rick hadn't spontaneously changed his outfit in the last few hours, then the sheriff uniform should've at least hinted that Rick was telling the truth.

"What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now?" Laura was freaking out again, _Leave Rick, just go._ At first she wanted their help, but it was looking like a bad idea. "And I take what's mine."

"You could do that..." _What the hell Rick._ Laura rolled her eyes, he wasn't very good at this negotiating thing, was he? "Or not."

She hadn't a clue what was going on, but everything was quiet for a few minutes until the man called out something she didn't quite catch. Again, probably in that language she didn't understand.

Laura was shoved forward by the two men a few feet forward then held her still. One of the men snatched the sack off her head and she saw exactly what was going on.

Rick stood beside Daryl, a shotgun pointed straight at the man who she had spoken to earlier. Daryl's crossbow was trained on a particularly lanky looking kid in between them and the group that had captured her. Glenn was down there too, he hand a pistol in his hands, but he was clearly nervous with it. She could see that from a distance.

She shook her head at Rick, gesturing away, hoping he'd get her message. _Run, leave._

"I see two options, you come back with Miguel and my bag of guns. Everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, and we'll see which side spills more blood." _Dammit Rick, just go already._ She couldn't get her point across to him, she wasn't telepathic.

When Laura saw the group who captured her turn back inside, she felt relieved. Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and that kid, Miguel, were on their way out.

They dragged her back with them and didn't put the sack back on her head, thankfully. However, the two men were much more careful with her on the way down, seemingly okay with taking their time to let her get down the stairs safely.

Such a dramatic change in treatment made her suspicious.

"So, those were your friends, huh?" He sighed, peeling off the duct tape. "Pretty dedicated friends."

"O-only known 'em f-for a day. So d-don't 'spect to get t-those guns." She glowered at the man, "They have families to g-go back to, p-people they care about t-that need t-those guns, to p-protect them. I'm a s-stranger to them. They w-won't give up t-those guns for m-me."

"Guillermo." He took up a knife and cut the ropes that bound her hands. She rubbed the sore skin there, she still hadn't healed up properly. "And for someone they've only known for a day, they've really taken a shine to you."

She scoffed at him, "Keep her with the rest of the folk for now, we'll deal with her when her friends get back."

They lead her through a door to what looked like a small fenced in courtyard. It actually looked quite peaceful, if Laura ignored the men carrying guns and various other weapons around her.

Laura noticed a significant change in scenery from the foreboding looking structure they were in before and the hospital-like building she was lead into.

At the end of a hallway, the men let her go inside and do as she pleased. This wasn't something she could say she knew how to deal with, the people here were elderly folk who were sitting down and talking, others up and about. They didn't even notice the armed men behind her, it was like they were made out of rainbows, ready to give out free food and shelter, not gun toting kidnappers threatening to fill her with lead.

"Hello deary, what's your name?" A woman came up to her, she was one of the elderly here, but she waved Laura to come and sit with her and a few others that were just enjoying the day.

"My n-name is Laura, ma'am." She took a seat on the floor nearby the lady who invited her. "What a lovely name. I am Abuela, Felipe's grandmother. Have you met him?" Laura shook her head, "He's a such a sweet child. Maybe you can meet him later." She had such a heavy accent that Laura figured this Felipe must've been one of the people who took her.

"You have the most stunning eyes, dearest." Laura forgot she had her hood down, it wasn't like it mattered now. Instead of hiding herself, she took off her jacket and tied the sleeves around her waist. "Thank you ma'am. How long have you been here?"

"Oh, quite some time." She leaned back into her chair, "My grandson takes care of us here, he really is a sweet boy. He'd only be so lucky to have such a pretty girl like yourself."

Laura blushed, and while she was a little interested in the fact that she was actually blushing and could feel it, she was a little embarrassed by the woman's statement. "I'm not really i-interested in that k-kind of thing ma'am."

"And why shouldn't you be?" The elderly woman smiled, Laura took notice that Abuela actually never _stopped_ smiling. "Pretty young thing like yourself should have many men in her hand, eh?"

Laura just cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Oh, yes." She pointed to a man sitting near her, "This is Mister Gilbert, Mister Gilbert, this is Laura."

Laura spent some time sitting with the people of the nursing home, just keeping them company and talking with them. It was as if the world outside was perfectly normal, like nothing in the world was wrong. Laura liked that feeling.

She had lost track of time and as it flew by, the more calm she was around these people. Smiling with them and all around enjoying herself quite fully. It wasn't something Laura had a lot of experience with and was more then happy to forget about the outside world and wallow in blissful ignorance of the apocalyptic would outside.

It was grand.

However, all good things come to an end and this one came to a screeching halt. Mister Gilbert started gasping, he couldn't breathe.

Abuela left for her grandson, Felipe. Mister Gilbert was having breathing troubles.

They said it was because of his asthma, that he needed his medicine in order to get well again. He sat there gasping for air, taking long deep breaths. Laura didn't know what to do, she wasn't trained to be a doctor or a nurse. She could only sit on the sidelines and hope for the best.

She had long since learned that Guillermo ran this place, that he watched over them and the armed men helped defend the old folks home. It was amazing to Laura, she'd never seen people like this before.

When Abuela returned with the man Laura recognized as the one who had an arrow up his ass earlier, she made another discovery. These people, the ones who took her and threatened her and her friends were protecting these people against the monsters she'd come across. People like her father or the men who captured her before.

She was so focused on Gilbert she didn't notice Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog join them.

Felipe came up to Mister Gilbert, talking to him calmly as he readied the medicine. She felt relieved when his breathing started to level out.

"What the hell is this?" Rick looked at her as if he was so shocked by this discovery that he couldn't process this new information.

"Oh, um, a-asthma attack." Laura answered, turning her head until she tore her eyes from Gilbert and onto Rick. "He j-just couldn't breathe right."

"Thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog sent her an incredulous look that said he was well beyond the point of freaking out. Especially with everything about the guns and Miguel.

Laura just turned around and looked at the chihuahua's who barked in response to being looked at without consent. She grinned, she always used to love dogs.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Rick and Guillermo walked away from the small crowd, Laura ignored them and kept an eye on Gilbert. While Rick went off to talk to Guillermo behind her, she did see T-Dog, Daryl, and Glenn go with, just to make sure everything was alright.

They spoke in hushed voices, obviously Rick was not very happy about this.

When they started to leave the room, Daryl passed behind her. "Hey, come on." Laura turned on her heel, seeing Daryl wave her along to follow them. Looking back, she said her goodbyes and left with them.

Entering one of the rooms, Rick set down the bag of guns and Guillermo took a seat. "What about the rest of your crew?" Rick put a hand on his hip and Laura only just now noticed he was carrying a very mean looking shotgun. He wasn't planning anything, was he?

"The Vatos trickle in, check on their parents, their grandparents, they see how things are and most decide to stay." Laura remembered the men who looked like part of a gang, she was wondering where they came from. "It's a good thing too, we need the muscle. The kind of people we've encountered, the worst kind. Plunderers, the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are." _Yeah, what the hell guys._ Laura frowned at Guillermo, he just assumed they were plunderers and had attacked them, threatened them, without even giving them a chance. That's how good people die.

"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage." Guillermo looked around to the group, "Appearances."

"Guess the world changed." T-Dog looked positively worn out, Laura made a note to check on them all later, see if there was anything they needed. She couldn't get her head around why they came back for her, they could've died.

"No, it's the same as it ever was." Guillermo caught Rick's gaze, "The weak get taken. So we do what we can, the Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy and that's worth something."

He looked down, then glanced to the boarded up window behind him. "So was bar all the windows, weld all the doors shut, except for one entrance. The Vatos go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going." He gestured to the Vatos talking in the other room across from them. "We scan the perimeter night and day. And we wait.

Laura hadn't known all this before, she was listening intently and wondered if they ever meant to harm her or their group. It wouldn't make sense, if what Guillermo was saying was true, but then again, stranger things have happened.

"The people here, they all look to me now." He dropped his shoulders slightly. "I don't even know why."

"Because they can."

Rick gave Guillermo his shotgun, who took it graciously. He unzipped the gun bag and started checking guns, then putting them on the desk Guillermo was sitting on the edge of. Making sure the ammo was right for each gun, Rick zipped up the gun bag and threw it over his shoulder again.

"Thank you, we do need these guns." Guillermo stood, setting the shotgun down before shaking Rick's hand.

The sheriff offered a half-hearted smile.

"I almost forgot." Guillermo took out a handgun, it was the one Laura had been carrying. "You may want this back."

She just shook her head, "I don't want it, I h-haven't even had a chance to u-use it. You n-need it more then me." Guillermo grinned, putting the pistol back in the belt of his jeans.

When they left the presence of the Vatos, Laura was all too happy to be heading back to camp. First, they had to make it to the truck. They took the same path back out of the city and were only a few minute walk from the rails they parked on.

Laura was hanging back behind them a little bit, she didn't have to sneak around the walkers they had come across and kept walking with her hands in her pockets and her head down.

She was in deep thought about her fear, when the Vatos took her. It was rational, after all, they are actually a rather tough looking gang, they did threaten her friends and her, they beat the hell out of Daryl in the alley, all without even trying to speak to them on neutral ground.

"You alright back there?" Rick stopped for a moment, the others still walking a bit ahead of them, but they did spare a glance at Rick and Laura. She looked at the distance between the group and her. It was a good ten feet or so.

"I'm fine, just c-calmin' my nerves." She answered, sending him, or trying to, a reassuring smile. Rick was not convinced.

"It's okay if you were scared, anybody would be in that situation." She shook her head and bit her lip. "I wasn't really scared, well, I mean. I w-was scared, b-but it w-wasn't because of t-them. I just f-fell into a bad p-pattern of thinking. That's a-all."

He walked a little faster with her, trying to catch up with the group. "I know what you're talking about. Maybe you'll think about talking with someone now?" Rick really wanted her to get help to deal with trauma, but he wasn't about to make her talk. Just offer to listen.

"Rick, I tell you what." She chuckled, "W-when we get back t-to camp, I will w-write a fuckin' _b-ballad_ about everything s-screwed up in my life and p-personally perform it in f-front of the whole camp and have it d-dedicated to you."

He laughed at this, patting her on the back. "You were distant yesterday and now you seem much happier. After being taken by the Vatos, I was honestly concerned about you." They'd finally caught up to the group, Laura and Rick side by side and Rick's hand on her shoulder. "When Daryl told me someone took you... I've known-" He looked to the group who could hear them and while Laura had said she'd tell anyone, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable here."I've known _victims_ who were recovering from their experience and have a similar one later on. Most of them are never the same. I'm glad to see you pulled through."

Laura smiled brightly. "Yeah, I was t-terrified, thinkin' they w-were, uh, gonna' do the s-same thing, or at least s-somethin' similar. But I saw y'all and w-wasn't really that scared a-anymore."

Rick and Laura shared a comfortable silence, until Rick noticed T-Dog and Daryl stealing looks at Laura, like they were wondering what was going on. The sheriff narrowed his eyes, asking himself what they were looking at.

Until he looked back to Laura who was not wearing her hoodie.

"They've b-been starin' since w-we left the w-walker infested s-streets." She knew exactly why too and they had decided to keep it to themselves. So Laura untied her hoodie and slipped it on, pulling up the hood and zipping the jacket up.

At that, they all started to become disinterested. It was funny to think of them as the equivalent of their walkers. They get one look at her and wonder if she's human or undead, but when she hides herself well enough, they all just go about their way until they really were to focus on what they had seen. So far, none of them had.

Rick carefully made his way in between her and the others, a protective arm over her shoulders. They didn't really see what he was doing and Laura was glad for that, but she appreciated him defending and comforting her.

"Can't believe y'all c-came back for me though." Laura wasn't keeping her face covered like before, just partially. "Would've thought t-that when G-Guillermo demanded the guns and Miguel f-for me, that'd y'all would just grab the guns an' get back to camp."

"We ain't leavin' you behind, girl." T-Dog rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, we weren't just going to run away." Glenn hitched the pack on his back higher, "I don't think any of us would."

T-Dog flanked her other side now. "Damn straight. Couldn't leave ya' back there even if I wanted to."

_Almost there_. She thought, a little celebration going off in her head. She wanted to get back to camp, return the guns and see how long it took for her to meet all the people there.

So far the group was very promising. With Glenn, T-Dog, Daryl, Dale, Shane, the Morales family, Andrea and Amy, Jacqui, and Rick with his wife and son. She liked the idea of being with people again, it was promising.

"Admit it," Glenn spoke up, "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Laura smiled.

"Don't tell anybody." So Rick did have a sense of humor. He always looked so serious, then again, she met him after the apocalypse when he was searching for his family, the only other times she saw Rick was when he was either fighting for his life or trying to adjust to living in an infected world.

"You've given away half our guns an' ammo." Daryl was in a huff. He was still rather pissed about Merle and Laura got that.

"Not nearly _half_." Rick growled back to the man.

"For what? Buncha' ol' farts gonna die momentarily anyhow." They all walked around the bus and pole. "Seriously, how long do you think they got?"

"How long do any of us?"

They were just about there and all of them stopped when they saw the area, rails, fence, bus, and all. Sans one cube van.

"Oh my God." Glenn sighed. They all scanned the area, just in case they missed it.

"Where the hell's our van?"

Glenn pointed to the rails, "We left it right there, who would take it?"

Rick sneered, "Merle."

Daryl looked like he just came upon a revelation. "He's gonna' be takin' some vengeance back to camp."

Laura ground her teeth. "If he so m-much as _thinks_ about touching any one of 'em, I'll be servin' the walker's Merle Dixon stew."

"We need to go, now." Rick started, they left at a jogging pace, to move as fast as they could without exhausting themselves, which would only prove detrimental for both them and the camp.

* * *

It was a long trek back to camp, they hadn't said a word since they left Atlanta. They were all thinking about camp, wondering if Merle had made it back and if he had, what would he do?

Laura thought Daryl might have an idea about the subject, but the men behind her were far too busy trying to keep their breath as they headed for camp. She smiled, one more wonderful benefit of being cured, she had never felt tired since the first few weeks she had woken up.

When they all started to get a little slower, Laura had made more progression ahead of them. She would run a little faster every few minutes, not really meaning to, but just because she felt the urgency of getting to camp with Merle on the loose. Like he was some starving lion ready to plow through camp the second he caught their scent.

A fraction of a second went by when they heard the sounds of a gun going off in the distance, multiple shots, and screaming.

Laura bolted, running as fast as she could then leaving the others behind her.

They'd already arrived at the dirt road up to the camp, but they were too far away. They would all have to book it if they wanted to make it to camp in time to minimize whatever damage was being done.

She realized a little too late that she didn't have a weapon, but that wouldn't hurt her, only hindered her from helping others as effectively.

Laura sprinted into camp, seeing the bodies on walkers almost covering the ground. There were a few feasting on late camp members and others that were heading to the RV where the survivors of this attack had begun to gather at, but were becoming quickly surrounded.

How she wished she took her gun back from Guillermo now.

Scouring the ground, she found a hatchet and took it up firmly. Happy with it, she charged the walkers that were encroaching on the group.

She grabbed a walker and spun it around, sinking the hatchet blade into it's skull. More walkers started to get close to the group and Shane had to reload eventually.

Laura ran up to them and Shane aimed at her, yet held back and she wasn't shot, so she figured Shane must've been able to recognize her from the undead. That was a good thing, she only had to make a personal note to never run up on a man being surrounded by the undead at night again.

Taking up a place in front of the herd, she held as many off as she could.

"Get back!" Shane shouted over the women's screams, the order was directed at her but Laura refused and went to their right side which was becoming infested with an increasing number of walkers.

She grabbed two walkers that were the furthest to her sides by their shirts and held onto them while digging her feet into the ground an inch or so, all walkers caught in between were forced against her. She used all her strength to hold them back and was straining under the pressure. The walkers were piling up on her, they were all pushing forward at once. Laura felt like a barricade, there would only be so much she could deal with before being overpowered, but she wasn't about to let them get eaten and there were too many walkers on this side to be taken out at once.

Shane was reloading as fast as humanly possible while others did their best to cut down other walkers using anything from shovels, knives, and baseball bats.

Laura couldn't tell if these walkers were random and arrived the same exact day and time Merle escaped without a hand and had a twisted reason in his head to attack them, or if he had somehow caused this

If Merle could cut off his hand, beat down walkers with one hand, and escape Atlanta while suffering from blood loss, then she didn't really see how Merle _couldn't_ have done this. Unless he was already passed out or dead from said blood loss.

The build up of Walkers caused her feet which were still partially in the ground to slide back. She groaned as her arms were being pressed on by the walkers, she could feel her body being pulled apart slowly as the walkers tried harder and harder to get passed her.

Every time another walker would press into the small crowd of walkers she was holding onto, she would be pushed back a few inches.

That was until there were so many shoving her back that she just began to slide back. "Oh no you don't!" She gritted her teeth, screwed her eyes shut and started to walk forward, into the walkers. It succeeded in slowing them down quite a bit, but she was using a strength she didn't really have and it was getting more difficult to resist them.

" _Let them go..._ " Her eyes snapped open. The Voice was back, it was always around when she felt threatened. Why wasn't it there when the Vatos took her? " _Join them in their feast. There is plenty to go around._ "

"No!" She cried out, her heart pumping furiously now and her body struggling with the number of walkers on her.

Gunshots, more guns then just Shane's, starting firing off rounds around the camp. She turned her head to see what was going on and there was the group she'd been with in Atlanta had finally caught up and starting clearing out the undead.

T-Dog and Daryl had come up to the group of walkers she was holding back from the others and started unloading on the walkers. Gradually her weight was lifted until the last walker she held back fell dead.

She sighed deeply. The two men went off to help clear out the rest of camp with the others.

Laura went around and got to cut down a few walkers who were wandering the camp site before they were all sure that there weren't any more walkers for the moment.

"Carl!" She heard Rick call out, Laura hadn't bothered to look at the group to see who was who or where they were, only to stop walkers from overrunning them.

She saw Carl run up to Rick and him pick up the terrified boy while Lori was rigid and fearful. Rick pulled her to him, they were all crying, anguishing over the suffering that had happened.

The camp grew ominously quiet, the group was reeling in shock from the event. So many bodies were scattered about that they couldn't tell their own people from the walker corpses.

They were all still scanning for more, checking ones on the ground and watching the treeline.

"Amy!" Laura flinched at hearing the girl's name, Andrea was crying out Amy's name over and over. Laura had just now noticed that Amy had died, bitten twice, an artery in her wrist and her jugular veins torn open. She died of blood loss.

She had nothing to say, only joined the others as they started to move the bodies.

The woman and children had taken shelter in the RV for the night while a group comprised of Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Dale, Glenn, Daryl, the mechanic she never met, Morales, and herself began cleaning up overnight.

It was about two hours later she sunk her hatchet into another corpses' head then hooked her arms underneath the arms of a walker corpse that someone spoke to her. She expected Rick to talk to her earlier, but to her surprise, it was apparently Daryl's turn to share his words of wisdom with her.

"Should be gettin' some sleep." He grabbed the walkers feet, helping her carry the body into the burn pile. They hadn't started the fire yet, they were going to wait until daylight so they didn't risk attracting more walkers.

"I can keep t-this up all night, Daryl." She smiled weakly to the man. They repeated the process and the two of them carried another walker body to the pile. The hunter glanced at her every now and then. She caught his eyes finally, the sharpest blue she'd ever seen.

"Hey, Daryl." Laura rubbed the side of her face. "I'm real sorry 'bout Merle. I mean, he ain't the n-nicest guy I ever met, but he was still ya brother. So, yeah... Just tryin' to say that I really wish he was here with ya now. Hell, w-wished we hadn't cuffed him up there in the first place."

Daryl's mind stumbled back as she talked about Merle. He'd given her a black eye, attacked T-Dog and was sorry they didn't find him? He knew fine well Merle didn't, as Rick put it, play nice with others, but for all she knew Merle could have been a cold blooded murderer. He knew his brother better then any of them, obviously and he wasn't expecting Laura to actually feel bad about him not getting his brother back. He nodded to her, "Thanks." He grumbled.

She grinned at him, "Maybe later, after all this, ya' can show me how'ta hunt, huh? I gotta' say, moment I saw that crossbow an' all 'em squirrels, I couldn't help but feel a li'l jealous."

He smirked, "Maybe."

The next few hours of the night were spent quietly, dragging bodies away.

When the sun came up, Shane lit the pile. Most people couldn't stand the smell and tied whatever they could around their nose and mouth to stop from having to deal with the horrendous odor.

Andrea stayed up all night with Amy, lovingly running her hand over the deceased girl's hair. She wasn't crying anymore or doing anything really, she just sat there looking at her sister's face.

Laura wasn't about to bother her, she was still on the unfamiliar side when it came to losing family like they had done. Andrea lost Amy, Daryl lost Merle, Rick was searching for his family, though he found them, the story he told that night around the fire portrayed a very defeated side of Rick. The loss these people suffered, she just couldn't relate. Didn't mean she wasn't going to try and help them through it.

If needed, she'd do her best to comfort Andrea, if that meant a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to, Laura would be there. Granted, if she made the same offer to Daryl he'd probably just stab her.

She wouldn't blame him for it either.

However, she had made the offer in her own way. After speaking up about Merle last night, Laura asked about hunting with Daryl and while she was serious about learning how to hunt and that the crossbow had such an endless amount of uses in the walker-infested world, she figured hunting would get Daryl's mind off of Merle, if only for a little while.

By this point, Daryl was cracking into the heads of corpses with a pickax and when done with a body T-Dog and Glenn tossed it into the burning pile.

When Laura heard a gun being cocked, she turned around to see Andrea aiming her gun at Rick who was very slowly backing away. She wondered what happened to warrant Andrea drawing her weapon on Rick. An overprotective feeling washed over her, but was gone as quickly as it came. Rick could take care of himself and Andrea was in pain, all they had to do is leave her alone.

Regardless, Laura went up to the group as it appeared Daryl was talking quite fervently about something before storming off. He went right by her and he seemed thoroughly pissed for the morning.

What a healthy life he leads.

"What's his deal?" She walked up to Rick, her head turned to see Daryl with Morales dragging a body away.

"He thinks we should shoot Amy." He answered, his eyes had followed Daryl to before landing on Laura. "What do you think?"

Laura blinked and shook her head. "Wait, me?" He nodded, "Why not you?"

She just shrugged and interlaced her fingers behind her neck. "What do I think about shooting Amy... I'm assuming from the w-way y'all are discussin' this that it'd be done without Andrea's consent?" He was reluctant, but nodded again. "Ah, that's a tough call... If it were up to me, I'd just wait to see what Andrea does. Amy hasn't turned yet, maybe that's all she's waiting for. Doesn't matter though, when the time comes I'm sure she'll do what she thinks is best. Let's give Andrea time with her sister."

Shane looked a little disappointed in her opinion, but she could tell he respected it.

Rick gave her a faint smile. "Alright, we'll try it your way."

Laura patted Rick's back, "Gotta' get to work. Call me if y'all need me."

"Reap what you sow!" She turned around to see Daryl still pulling the body with Morales in front of the RV. "You know what? Shut up man."

Daryl walked away from Morales. "Y'all left my brother for dead!" He pointed to the pile of bodies, "You had this comin'!"

It was another _who said what to Daryl_ moment. Certain things would set him off she noticed, but she could see that any discussion to be had about Merle may not have the best outcome...

Shortly after Daryl stormed away for the second time, Jacqui backed away from the mechanic. "A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" _So that's his name_. She approached Jim with the others, he was afraid, but that was understandable.

"Show it to us." Daryl had somehow managed to storm off in one direction and yet come up from behind her, which was the opposite direction in which he had left in. "Show it to us!"

She picked up the weirdest things.

Jim turned around and picked up a shovel, they were circling him now. As he held that shovel out like a weapon, everyone starting making noise. Shane trying to tell him to put it down, Daryl telling T-Dog, the only person behind Jim, to grab him.

T-Dog jumped to Jim and grabbed his arms, but Jim didn't even try to fight back. "I'm okay, I'm okay!" Daryl rushed forward and pulled up Jim's shirt, revealing the teeth marks of a walker bite.

Both he and T-Dog stepped away as Jim kept repeating those words like a chant.

They separated Jim from the group, sitting him down at the bumper of the RV while the others conversed about his future or lack thereof. Laura sorely wished she could do something, anything. Like her father did when he found a cure, she was so close to the one thing that could solve so many of their problems and yet... She didn't even think about trying to take the vial with her.

She hadn't known about the outside world then, about what had happened to it, but she still felt like had she just taken that case with her so many problems would've been solved.

Standing with the group now, none of them really knew where to start. Except Daryl, he always had the answer.

"I'd say we put a pickax in his head an' the dead girl's an' be done with it." Coincidentally, Daryl was holding the pickax.

Shane looked up, "Is that what you'd want? If that were you?"

"Yeah, an' I'd thank you while you did it." Another statement Daryl made that Laura really didn't doubt. She could actually see him thanking the person who'd kill him if he got bit.

"I hate to say it, I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right-" Rick didn't look at the group. "Jim's not a monster Dale, or some rabid dog. He's a sick, sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"Line's pretty clear, zero tolerance for walkers or them to be." Daryl argued. Laura was a little torn between the idea of killing Jim while he was still human and alive. It was murder as far as she was concerned and yet, Laura wouldn't lie and say she knew how this new world worked, she was still trying to understand it.

"What if we can get him help?" Rick offered, "I heard the CDC was workin' on a cure." He spared her a look that lasted only a few seconds.

_Oooh no Rick_. He was going to have a talk with her later, she just knew it.

"I heard that too, heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane clasped his hands on his shotgun.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Laura's eyes closed like someone had pointed a flashlight in them. She hadn't been to the CDC building in a long time, she didn't check it while she was out in the city for the fear that her father may have tried to go there. She didn't want to risk running into him.

"Man that is a stretch right there."

"Why?" Rick asked, "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs. I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection, rescue-"

"Okay, look Rick, you want those things. I do to. Now if they exist, they're at the army base Fort Benning." Laura had no idea what Fort Benning was, she had no place in this part of the conversation.

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction."

"That is right." She was convinced on both sides already, "But it's away from the hot zone, now listen to me, if that place is operational it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military was on the front lines of this thing, they got overrun. We've all seen that!" Rick exclaimed, "The CDC's our best choice and Jim's only chance."

The group was silent, there were two options, neither very promising. CDC or this Fort Shane was talking about. Laura was well acquainted with the CDC, knew her way around the building and knew a lot of the staff so she was biased on the argument. She couldn't pick out of fear she will pick CDC because she knew the place or Fort Benning in an attempt to _not_ be biased.

"You go lookin' for aspirin, do what'cha need to do." Daryl turned around, raising the pickax in his hands as he went for Jim. "Somebody needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"

"Hey, hey hey!" Rick ran up and put his revolver against his head, again, and Daryl stopped.

"We don't kill the living."

Shane stepped in between Daryl and Jim. He lowered the pickax and stared Rick down. "That's funny, comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down." Shane defended, he and Rick were on the same page. "Go on."

Daryl threw the pickax down and stalked off.

Laura needed a break from all this. Humans and their groups, the dysfunctional and argumentative members made her head spin. She didn't see why they couldn't just agree on something and, if they could agree, just deal with majority opinion over minority.

Right as she left the group and stood at the treeline, Rick was soon to join her.

"What can I do ya' for, sheriff?" She leaned against a tree as he neared her.

"I need to know-" Laura sighed, "If I have the cure Dad used on me?"

"Yes."

Laura shook her head, "I don't know what to tell ya'. I don't have it, I don't know where it is, I don't know where he is, and I don't know how to create the cure. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I have nothin' to offer for Jim. I really truly wished I did Rick."

"I know, I just had to ask. Just to be sure." She pushed herself from the tree. "I understand Rick. My Dad used to work at the CDC, the one in Atlanta, so I know it pretty well. At least, the floors they let civilians on anyways. I wasn't allowed in the trickier places."

"You're familiar with the CDC building?" This was news to Rick.

"Yeah, but my Dad hasn't worked there in years. I couldn't tell you if it was up and running or not." She rubbed her temples. "Look, today and yesterday has become this giant blur in my brain. I need to get my head on straight before I rejoin y'all. Okay?"

He nodded, his hands on his hips. "Take all the time you need."

When Rick went to see Shane, Laura began to feel her head swimming.

" _It's time for breakfast._ " That damn voice wouldn't leave her alone, she was fine for now, there wasn't anything wrong with her and no one was trying to kill her. As far as she knew anyways.

A gunshot rang in the air and Laura looked into the camp and saw Andrea putting down her gun and continued showing her affection to Amy even though she was long gone.

Laura headed into her tent, she needed to think in peace and quiet. There was so much that went wrong in such little time that she had to stop for a moment and wonder how much of it that could've been stopped.


	14. Their Kind of Predator

A long day it had been. Burning bodies, digging graves, losing members; Laura had heard everyone moving around passed her tent and she came out to walk with them.

It was time for the funerals.

She was never big on funerals, not seeing the point in them. It was an old belief that people should bury their dead, she preferred cremation and laughed internally at the thought that, when she died, if she was killed, that her body would be burned and Daryl might not flip the fuck out like he had done earlier when they burned walker dead and buried dead group members.

It's the little things that make the all the difference.

Laura never said anything, not like she had time to, but she really started to like Daryl. He was rash, rude, and downright difficult to talk to at times, but all around he was a good guy. Back in Atlanta he'd tried to stop the men from taking her, he shot one in the ass. Still hilarious when she thought about it. He did little things that showed he wasn't heartless but he wasn't going to baby anyone.

She was fine with that, in fact, she liked that most about him. Laura could handle herself and while she had been hurt in the past because she couldn't fight back, that was more of a case of physical strength and, let's face it, Laura wasn't very strong and she was never going to be very strong. At least, not enough so to fight off large men like the one who grabbed her or when she was dragged away by the Vatos.

But she could be fast and agile, if it were not for her brace. For now, she dealt with being fast. Laura was not very, she wasn't going to beat around the bush, she wasn't very knowledgeable about fighting nor did she know much about how to see a bad situation coming and how to avoid it.

Let's face it, on those topics, she was downright retarded.

Didn't mean she couldn't handle her own. When she listened to that Voice in her, she could turn into a wild animal or someone else completely, like there was another person living inside of her and it was only when the Voice talked to her that this other person came out.

Her hand messaged the back of her neck, it was a little sore from the strenuous activity, but they'd be here for another night then head off to the CDC. Perhaps tonight she'd get her first hunting lesson from Daryl? If he chose to go out that is.

Reaching the end of the path, Laura saw they'd already filled a few graves and covered them. The last on was Amy's and she saw Andrea dragging her body to the grave.

Dale stepped up to help her, but she refused at first, claiming that she could do it. Eventually though Dale was able to help put Amy's body in the grave and pull Andrea out of it.

Nothing was said, no eulogies, just silence. Laura felt so bad for Andrea, to lose her sister like that? It must be heart breaking. As far as Laura knows, Amy was Andrea's only surviving family member.

After some time up there, paying their respects, they filled the grave and left.

It wasn't long before the camp took up it's chores again, only this time everything was much quieter and the downtrodden looks on everyone's faces made them all seem a little dead. They were all terrified, Laura remembered being scared of the man that bit her, but it was before the outbreak, before all of this. It was just another thing she couldn't relate to these people with, she felt like the outcast that didn't _want_ to be the outcast, but had no other choice.

Well, she had another choice, but she wasn't about to get herself killed by telling everyone that she was a walker.

She could just see how well _that_ would go down. Like Daryl said, zero tolerance for walkers. _  
_

_Oh shit._ Laura's eyes went wide, she asked to go hunting with him when she was a walker herself? The fuck was she thinking? What would happen if he found out while they were out there? Would he just kill her and get it over with like he was going to do with Jim? Maybe Daryl would give her the same chance Rick had?

_Ha, that's as likely as Merle wearing a dress._ She groaned, _fuck_ , Daryl was going to kill her.

_What if I just don't go? Stay here, tell him you don't want to go hunting. Make an excuse, something!_ Her foot tapped mercilessly on the ground. Crossing her arms, she started pacing a little. She didn't want to ditch on hunting, it was such a useful skill to have, something she wants to know, but she also didn't want to die.

Then again, what were the chances that Daryl would find out while they were out? After all this time, what would be the likelihood of him just finding out her secret while hunting? Glenn had seen her face before, he didn't care at all. T-Dog and Daryl had tried their hardest not to look when they were leaving Atlanta. Didn't work out too well though, she could easily tell they were staring.

Of course, this was exactly when Daryl had to show up. _Of fucking course_.

He saw her pacing and he was able to pick up that she was nervous about something. He stood nearby her, biting his thumb while looking around them, checking to make sure there wasn't anyone else within earshot. "Somethin' eatin' at ya'?"

Laura stared at him, she'd stopped pacing when he approached her, but she thinks... did he just...? Nah Daryl didn't make jokes. Did he? "Did you just...?"

"Bad joke." He confirmed her suspicions, looking at the ground rather awkwardly. She smiled. "No, no. That was- It was actually pretty good." Laura giggled, a wide grin plastered on her face now.

Daryl gave a slight grin, looking up from the ground to her now. "I'm headin' out, gotta' go huntin'. Came by to see if you wanted to come with me."

In light of Daryl's joke and Laura's inability to realize the world was still spinning while she was looking at him, she nodded. "Yeah, anythin' I should bring along?"

"Nah, just something to protect yourself with, case of walkers." She almost didn't catch herself from cringing. Laura had to remember why she was worried in the first place. Play it cool and careful, so she wouldn't end up with either his knife or his arrow in her head.

Laura patted the hatchet on her belt. "Done. Let's get then."

He nodded and lead her out of the camp. She was more then eager to follow, but kept herself back a few feet in the off chance that something were to happen and she couldn't risk him by being so close that they tripped over each other.

The trip was spent mostly in silence, Daryl would crouch down every now and then, she would follow, when he moved she moved. Laura did everything she could to keep up his pace, trying to make sure she didn't hold him back from doing what he normally did.

He had gotten a few small critters that were going to be part of dinner.

Though even while he seemed completely focused on his hunt, Daryl would send her a look here or there that told her he had something on his mind, but didn't quite know how to say it. Instead of poking the bear, she just followed him around, stayed quiet as she could and waited to hear him bring whatever it was on his mind up.  
Apparently now was the time to deal with the complications that arose from her previous experience with his brother.

"How's the eye?" Daryl spoke lowly and Laura wasn't sure he said anything until he looked at her like he was asking her again. "Oh," She rubbed her black eye, "Fine, I guess. Still sore, it'll go away."

"You get it checked?" Laura smiled, "Yeah, Rick was pretty adamant about looking at it when we got back to camp. Merle hits like his fists are made of fuckin' iron, but apparently not even that was enough to cause any real damage."

Daryl scratched the back of his neck, glancing around the woods before looking to her. "Sorry 'bout that... Merle ain't like that most of the time."

That caught her attention. "Oh? How was Merle before all this? I only knew the man for about an hour on that roof. He left a lasting impression, a shame it wasn't a good one."

The hunter just seemed to withdraw to himself a moment, like he was thinking real hard on something. They were still combing the woods and Daryl was paying close attention to everything around him, but he had something on his mind.

"Few years ago me and Merle were at a local bar," _Oooo, a story_. Laura grinned contently, listening in. "Just sittin' at the bar watchin' the game when this guy and his woman walks in. Guy looks about late thirties, girl had ta' have been early twenties. I knew there weren't somethin' right moment they walked in. Girl's all mousy and the guy acts like he owns the world." He scoffed, "Well, a while later the guy is blowin' up at his gal, talkin' shit. Nobody paid any real attention 'til he took her outside."

Laura's closed for a second, she could only imagine the reasons he'd take her outside.

"Merle drinks down the last of his beer, gets up and goes outside too. Takes me a minute to catch up with 'im, but when I do, there's Merle, the girl, and the guy's on the floor cryin'." Daryl smirked, "The man was beatin' on his woman, Merle said he figured it out quick. I don't remember much, had one too many, but the next mornin' I go in Merle's room and see Merle and the woman asleep, using her dress as a quilt."

Laura laughed, "Are you fuckin' serious?"

"I ain't lyin'. That frilly little yellow thing barely covered anythin', but there he was, wearin' a dress." He chuckled, "Never thought I'd see the day. Told 'im 'bout it later, denied everythin'."

She stopped dead. _As likely as Merle wearing a dress._ Her jaw cocked to the side and crease on her forehead, Laura just couldn't count the odds of this. It took her a moment, but she ended up shaking her head side to side.

"What?" Daryl noticed she stopped once he was a few steps ahead and waited for her.

"Oh nothin', that's just... hilarious." Laura beamed at him and continued to follow him through the woods.

After about a forty minute silence, Daryl had stood completely still before slowly lowering himself on his haunches. "There." He spoke quietly, pointing to a low hanging branch with a squirrel on it. The animal wasn't moving a lot, too busy with it's food. "Hood off."

Laura stared at him for a second, he'd seen her face before, it wasn't anything new. She'd just have to pull it back up when she was done, before he got too good of a look at her.

On the contrary... Merle wore a dress. Might as well keep her side of the bargain.

She pulled the hood down, averting her eyes and face for the most part.

Daryl held out the crossbow and, while quite surprised at his willingness to just hand it over, she took it and tried to hold it like he did. She's never even fired a gun, Laura wondered what possessed her to think trying out a crossbow would be a better idea. It was heavier then she thought, but she could work with it.

He corrected her, pulling up her arm a bit and resting the crossbow against her shoulder. "Use the sights." She closed her left eye and stared at the squirrel. There were two things she assumed were used for aiming. A circle... thing and a small straight line. She lined up the squirrel's body with both of the sights.

She remembered once, while playing a video game of course, that you should take steady breaths and, once ready to fire, breathe out calmly. Unfortunately, she was so excited about being out hunting with Daryl that _calm_ and _steady_ weren't exactly her strong suits.

But, she would give it her best shot. Knowing her luck, she could be fire a shot South and it would go North.

Taking a deep breath, she let it out calmly.

And pulled the trigger.

The kickback almost knocked her down, but she was able to hold on and when she heard a light crunch of leaves, she knew she hit it. She looked up from the crossbow, Daryl got up and grabbed the squirrel. She did it. _I did it!_ Laura jumped up from seeing the squirrel in his hand.

"I got it..." She stared at it breathlessly. "I got it!" Laura bounced, holding the crossbow firmly in her hands.

Daryl nodded, "Good shot." He held out his hand, waiting for her to return his crossbow. She absolutely loved it now, but gave it back to him. Daryl tied the squirrel to a rope and handed it to her. She put it over her shoulder, amazed that her first shot with a crossbow actually hit her target rather then Daryl or herself.

She could see shooting herself, because she'd never fired anything but a nerf gun before.

It was actually a minute or two before she realized they weren't doing anything but staring at each other. Well, she was staring, Daryl seemed to be scrutinizing.

_My hood. Dammit, really! We've only been out here a few fucking minutes and already you fuck up!_ Laura's smile faded and her eyes went wide. Moving like lightning, Laura yanked her hoodie back up and shoved her fists into her pockets forcefully. She looked down, her face covered again.

This only seemed to make Daryl more interested.

"Stop staring." She took a few cautionary steps back. Daryl stayed where he was, "Why do ya' look like that?"

"I don't look like nothin'! Shut up." She snarled, trying to sound angry but still sounded more scared then intimidating. Laura didn't want to show herself and almost immediately after lecturing herself about it, she went and _stared_ directly at him. Laura had accidentally gave Daryl plenty of time to see her and figure her out.

It grew tense, she had a hatchet, but she had no intentions of hurting him, but she still didn't want to die. That never changed.

" _Do it now, he knows,_ " She screwed her eyes shut, lowering her head further. " _You're so hungry. Satisfy yourself._ " _  
_

Daryl was still as stone, making no movements to her or from her. Laura wasn't going to risk anything else, so she slowly started to back away, to head straight back to camp and hopefully Daryl would forget all about this.

She turned her back to him and began to stalk away.

"I won't say nothin'."

Laura froze. She almost thought she imagined it, he said it so quietly that it was barely louder then their breathing. She turned around and shared the silence with Daryl. He had this nervous tick, he'd bite his thumb or tighten his jaw whenever thinking about something that warranted the usually stoic hunter to get worried over something.

There was nothing to be said at that moment, if she didn't know better she would've thought they were statues.

"Back in Atlanta, figured somethin' was up. I ain't stupid." He continued, "You were standin' around walkers and they didn't do anythin'. Got me thinkin' how anyone could do that. When we were headin' out of Atlanta, got a good look at you. I see you here now, guess I was right."

She sighed shakily, wrapping her arms around herself. Laura turned around, heading back to camp.

"Camp's that way." Laura looked at Daryl, he was pointing to his right. She followed his directions and he was right behind her the whole way. He was never less then ten feet close to her. She didn't know if that was because he was unsure about her or because he was protecting her while letting her have some space. It wasn't everyday you discovered someone you know is, or was, a walker.

Once they stepped into the edge of camp Daryl was near her, bitting his thumb and nodded to her. "You look hungry, let's go cook us some squirrel."

* * *

Laura officially _hated_ skinning and gutting now more then ever. Before being bit she would've thought it disgusting, but after being bit, and so hungry she was ready to eat that squirrel alive if she could've and found no forms of disgust or hesitance at the thought of it.

Probably would've freaked people out if she did though.

Once the squirrels were being cooked all she could think about was reaching in and taking them for herself.

At least now she had an idea of how to hunt. She can skin and gut now, but if she was ever on her own, forced to find her own food, then the only real issue would be hunting. She needed something to hunt _with_.

When Daryl handed her a small plastic plate of squirrel surprise, as she so lovingly called it, she devoured it all in a few bites. The entire squirrel was picked clean, her teeth shredded the meat like paper and when she was done, she just held her plate out for more.

Daryl barely got a few bites in before she was done. In mid bite of his squirrel he saw her plate in front of him. While they didn't talk, didn't even make much eye contact, he wasn't avoiding her.

He put more squirrel on for her when she asked, spoke only when she initiated a conversation, which was once for maybe twenty seconds, and sat near each other. What happened in the woods still fresh in her mind, Daryl hadn't reacted to her like he did with Jim.

What she didn't know what that Daryl didn't believe her to be a walker, she may look like one and walk with them, but that didn't make her a flesh eating undead monster. She spoke to people, to him which he found particularly strange at first, and he'd seen her show emotion before, no walker does that. And a bite doesn't make you _look_ like a walker, it turned the victim.

She'd looked like this the entire time. Probably a long time before they met too, a bite doesn't take that long to turn a person. He's never seen it take longer then a few hours, everyone said that, but she was with them for almost three days now and she wasn't turning.

Daryl understood that, if he was wrong, he'd deal with it. Otherwise, she wasn't hurting anyone. So far.

The rest of Laura's dinner went by uneventfully and they both parted ways. It was dark and Daryl needed sleep before his watch. Laura climbed up the RV to see T-Dog on the chair this time.

"Hey girl, what're doin'?" He smiled at her, he was actually hoping for a little company tonight.

"Can't sleep, just thought I'd join watch until I can." She sat down near him. "Hope you don't mind."

"Nah, I like havin' another person on watch. Double watches are only done when we have a pretty damn bad walker problem. Otherwise, it gets a little lonely up here." He adjusted the gun in his lap. "Saw you went out with the younger Dixon."

"Yeah, we went huntin'. Girl's gotta' eat y'know." Such an odd idea, one she immediately regretted after such a short time with him. She almost outed herself, on complete accident. She was just so proud of hitting that squirrel.

"Hold up now, he took ya' huntin'?" T-Dog looked at her oddly. "Just to be sure, this is Daryl Dixon we're talkin' 'bout, right?"

Laura gave a playful huff, "Yes T-Dog, Daryl took me huntin'. Why is that so hard to believe?"

He just laughed, not loudly on account of everyone sleeping, but he couldn't help himself. "Man, he doesn't take anyone huntin'. Don't think we haven't tried either, people wanna' learn, they ask 'im. He always says no, throwin' 'round tough talk, but he ain't never took a single person huntin'."

"Really? I asked him if I he'd show me and he kinda' agreed. Came to me after everythin' that went down and asked me if I wanted to join him." T-Dog's eyes nearly bugged out, the man was barely holding himself back now. He held a hand over his mouth as he laughed.

"Laura, I really don't know what to say 'bout that. Daryl never took anyone huntin'. For him to just pop up an' ask ya' to go huntin' with 'im? I'm worried he's schemin' against you now." Laura chuckled, "T-Dog, Daryl's rough around the edges, but he ain't so bad."

"Looks that way, huh?" He calmed down, a few huffs of laughter here or there. "Well, that's not somethin' I expected to hear tonight. I think my day is officially done." He was still smiling at her. T-Dog propped the gun on the side of the chair and the both of them spent the rest of T-Dog's watch in silence.

Laura would be up there all night, waiting anxiously for tomorrow. Wherever it was they went. CDC or Fort Benning. Laura loved the camp, the woods and the quarry, but the humans were right; the undead always moved and while it does take a long time to shuffle limply out of the city, they can and will do it. The walkers were leaving Atlanta, not purposefully really, just because they did.

When T-Dog went to sleep, Shane came up, when Shane went to sleep, Glenn came up. The shifts continued well into the night and once morning came, Laura couldn't wait to leave.


	15. On the Road Again

When the sun rose and people began waking up, it was a drastic change from the last morning she experienced with the group. No liveliness, no routines, no chores, no children running and playing. Almost dead silent.

They were either sitting or standing around the dead fire, not saying a single word to each other. They all felt anything they said would be out of place, possibly even inappropriate.

Laura spotted Glenn going around and talking to them all, she couldn't hear them, but it was important enough for them all to start getting up and moving. All in the same direction and her eyes followed them until Glenn came up to her.

"Hey Laura, Rick and Shane are calling a meeting, want you there too." Laura nodded and carefully climbed back down the ladder. Glenn was waiting for her as he checked to make sure everyone had gone. "Cool, come on." He waved her along, they weren't far behind the others.

People started gathering in a circle, Rick and Shane stood facing them all.

"Alright everybody, listen up." Shane stepped forward first. "Those of you with CB's, we're gonna' be on channel forty. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now if you have a problem, don't have a CB or can't get a signal, you're gonna' hit your horn one time, that'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales stepped up, "We're uh... We're not going."

The group looked at them all, Morales and his family. They were going to try their luck out there alone. "We have family in Bermingham, we want to be with our people."

"You're on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane stressed and Rick looked a bit distraught over losing the Morales family.

"We'll take the chance," Morales looked over his wife and children before turning to Rick. "I gotta' do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick was quietly hoping they'd change their minds. "We talked about it. We're sure."

The sheriff just nodded, "Alright. Shane?" He crouched down and searched the gun bag. ".357." Both of the cops approached Morales with a gun and a box of ammo. The family was leaving, but they weren't letting them go without some form of protection against the undead.

Morales took the gun and the ammo. "Box is half full."

This made Daryl scoff lightly.

Lori was the first to go and comfort Miranda. "Thank you all. For everything." The woman was crying quietly, hugging Lori like a sister and kissing the heads of both Louis and Eliza, the children she got to know so well.

The little ones said their goodbyes, Eliza gave her doll to Sophia who was heart broken to lose her friend.

"Channel forty if you change your mind." Morales shook Rick's hand. "Yeah."

After their heartfelt goodbyes, everyone started piling into their cars. Shane in his jeep, Rick got the Cherokee, Dale drove his Winnebago, T-Dog in his van, and Daryl took his pickup.

With most of the seats taken up, and Laura not wanting to risk riding with Shane only for the wind to blow her hood off, she hitched a ride with T-Dog and Andrea as they had plenty of ride and the prospect of her _other_ option was excessively awkward. Riding with Daryl right now was just not a good idea for her, she wasn't sure what would or could happen.

It was a rather peaceful, no one was talking but that was because T-Dog and Andrea were both wondering what lies in store for the group at the CDC. Laura had no doubts that's what everyone was thinking right now.

Laura hated the half of herself that really just could not bring itself to care. This enraging heartless response to the loss these people just suffered was severely inappropriate and she felt ashamed for it.

The ride went relatively streamline, only having to dodge a few derelict cars here or there.

Before the RV honked once and the caravan, just as they said, stopped.

She couldn't see what was going on, but it looked rather serious. They all left the van and joined the rest of the group in front of the RV, which she could now see was billowing out white smoke. If there was one thing she learned about cars, was that when it started spewing white smoke like that, there was a problem.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I needed the one from the cube van." Rick put his hat back on and Laura grinned, he did love that hat. "Can you jerry-rig it?"

"That's all it's been so far is more duct tape then hose." Dale shrugged hopelessly, "And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see somethin' up ahead." Laura fixed her eyes on Shane who was using the binoculars to check down the road. He lowered the binoculars. "Gas station if we're lucky.

There came urgent feet from the Winnebago that made everyone turn to look. "Y'all, Jim. It's bad, I don't think he can take anymore."

The group went silent again, waiting for someone to do something. "Hey Rick, you wanna' hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." T-Dog had the binoculars too, looking in the same direction Shane had. "Yeah, I'll come along to and I'll back ya' up."

"Y'all keep your eyes open now, we'll be right back." Shane and T-Dog turned and headed for the jeep.

Laura stayed still, she didn't know Jim and she wasn't going to go with Shane and T-Dog, two was enough for a short supply run like that, another person would only weigh the group down.

She watched Rick enter the RV to talk with Jim and Laura couldn't take seeing the people mourning him. If only her father was around, he could help these people and the others who had turned already.

Amy would still be alive and Jim wouldn't be in this mess.

Laura wanted to go for a walk, a decent one. Jacqui was crying quietly with Lori comforting her, the others were doing their own thing, dealing with the weight of the world on their backs.

They were all facing the same end. Being bitten and dying slowly, being eaten alive by cannibalistic undead humans, or maybe even being killed by people like the ones who took her or others like the Vatos, only not so caring about the elderly.

She felt responsible, she wasn't sure how or why, but she did. Like being brought back was an insult to be waved around like a steak in front of starving people just to where the tips of their figures could brush her, but could never reach her.

Laura wished she could do something for Jim, find a way to give him back his life and bring him out of so much pain. The same with Amy, when she was bitten that night, when she died and they all knew she was going to reanimate, Laura felt a tiny little bit of hope rise up, thinking Amy alive and not a walker. Of course, she was wrong, but Laura couldn't help herself.

Hope had to be out there, somewhere, just waiting to be found. Whether they discovered it or not was another question, one she would try to solve if it meant her life.

All her life she would quickly become interested in stories and people, she was never good at joining in a conversation, but the discussions about the Big Bang or Creationism, Democrat versus Republican, Wolverine versus Batman, she would get deep into the fundamentals behind it and find her own personal decision, based on facts.

She realized a few topics were not in the realm of factual or evidential, yet that didn't stop her from trying. When she found nothing, she would remain neutral to the unproven bias.

This time Laura felt her obsession was well placed. Survivors of the apocalypse, zombies versus humans, the virus and how it works; many things she wanted answered. If no one could provide her the answer, she would march out and find them herself. She took biology, knows her anatomy and chemistry, she wasn't the best and sure there were many more facets to being a scientist, but she wouldn't run around not knowing why she is what she is.

One day, she wanted to know if she could be human again and if given the opportunity to be so, would she take it or reject it?

Being able to live with walkers and humans? The benefit was, clearly, exponential, but it came as the cost of longer painful injuries, no sleep, walker-esque appearance, and the Voice. Laura didn't know if the Voice was part of being a walker, her going insane, or there was actually something substantial to it.

When Laura turned around and headed back to the cars, she saw Shane and Rick dragging a particularly weak looking Jim out of the RV.

She hurried up to see what was happened, had Jim turned or began to?

Shane and Rick laid him against a tree on the hill, getting him situated properly before letting go of him. Laura stood behind Carol and Sophia, right behind Daryl's shoulder. He noticed her, but they were all caught up in Jim's presence. She wasn't able to see well, but she could see their feet and make out Jim sitting against the tree ahead of them.

"Hey Jim," She could hear Shane, but couldn't see passed everyone. "I mean, y'know it doesn't need to be this."

"No... It's good. Breeze feels nice." The sound of Jim's voice, the strain and exhaustion. She remembered when she sounded like that. "Okay. Alright."

"Just close your eyes sweetie, don't fight." Jacqui's unmistakable voice tried to calm Jim, it was working on Laura from here.

A few footsteps and she could make out Rick approaching Jim. "Jim, do you want this?" He didn't even look down, "No, you'll need it. I'm okay." Jim assured Rick, the man was ready to die like he was.

Dale kneeled, resting a hand on Jim's knee. "Thanks for... for fighting for us."

No one had anything else to say, but made sure to be seen by Jim as their respects. He knew he was dying and was ready for it, Jim also knew that it was hard for everyone to say goodbye after losing so many people just the day before. He had no choice, he's stay if he could, but his body was already shutting down.

Carol lead Sophia away, Glenn had his hat off and turned to leave with the others. Daryl stepped up, nodded to Jim, and left. Laura came up to Jim, putting a hand on his shoulder and kissing his hair. "Rest well, Jim."

Laura turned and made for the others, all the while imagining how devastating it to watch them leave knowing that he cannot join them. The he has to die.

She didn't want to spend her time with people who were crying, so no RV, Cherokee or T-Dog's church van. Same rule applied to Shane's jeep as it had done before. Could she hitch a ride from Daryl without him asking about her?

No way of knowing until she tried.

She went up to Daryl's truck, which he'd already started, and knocked on the window. Daryl looked over and she pointed to herself then to his truck.

It took him a moment, then he nodded once. Laura popped the door open, the age evident in the loud sound the truck made as the door swung open. Climbing it, she shut it behind her and got comfortable. She wasn't very familiar with this area, all she knew it was in the direction of the CDC, but she'd never taken this route, she didn't know how long it'd be until they got there.

Laura wasn't crying over Jim, not even really mourning. Many people would probably call her heartless and get all pissed off with her for showing such little emotion towards a mans' suffering and eventual death, but the way Laura saw it... Death was a part of life, it happens. She's never truly experienced a human dying, but she didn't feel very obligated to tear up over someone she barely knew.

Daryl was respectful in that he didn't ask any questions about his little discovery in the woods with her. He seemed to catch on that she didn't want to talk about it and certainly wasn't going to willingly. Instead, he left her to her thoughts.

She appreciated this as she stared out the window, watching Jim as he saw them leave.

Neither spoke a word until they arrived at the CDC. It was getting dark, they'd been driving for a few hours, but they made it. "Come on, let's go. Stay close to me." Daryl said, getting out of the truck.

Laura followed suit, looking over the piles of bodies strewn out around the CDC building. Military personnel mostly, all dead from the looks of it. They'd been dead for quite some time to reach their level of decomposition.

People were coughing from the smell and odor of the gases rising from the decomposing bodies made all of their already fragile stomachs churn.

They all kept checking faces, making sure everyone was close and together. Laura had her hatchet out, ready to kill any walker that threatened the group. She would almost forget at times that they were a walker's main food source and they all knew it.

When they reached the building, Rick and Shane went for a shutter door and shook it, trying to see if it was loose. "Nothing?" Shane asked while bracing his back against the shutter and pushing, but it didn't budge an inch. They were all locked down. Shane banged on the shutter, trying to find a reaction or catch the attention of anyone who maybe inside.

The loud banging made Laura antsy again, it was bound to attract some walkers.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog guessed, "Then why are these shutters down?" Rick disparately tried to find a handle, a key pad, something to open the shutter or talk to people inside.

"Walkers!" Laura spun around when she heard it, a few walkers were heading their way.

And all she had was a damn hatchet.

Daryl shot the first walker and stormed behind her, back to the others. She heard them yelling, but chose to ignore them. Bigger fish to fry and all that...

Laura jumped out from the group and started cutting down walkers, none of them paid any kind of attention to her in the slightest consideration for her cutting down the others.

She heard them calling her back, not Rick, Daryl, Glenn, or T-Dog, but everyone else seemed to think she was going to get herself killed. Let them think that, so long as the walkers didn't get to them.

There was already a steady kill count of walkers at her feet, but as more came and she was forced to rush from side to side trying to stop them all, she kept getting pushed back a few feet at a time. The scattered walkers made it hard to hold them off, but until Rick and Shane came to a decision about what was going on, she wasn't going to stop killing them anytime soon.

Rick was screaming now, something about a camera and a person inside. Laura didn't know, but the walkers numbers were increasing by the second. It wouldn't be long before they couldn't handle the number with so many at risk.

Shane grabbed Rick and started dragging him back, announcing that they were leaving for Fort Benning.

Then, as Shane threw Rick back to the group, a loud screech came from the shutter door and a bright light shone forth like some kind of a miracle. There were still walkers, Laura hadn't the time to admire the light for too long.

The light shut down with a loud snap as Laura finished the last closest walker. "Daryl cover the back." _What do you think I've been doing?_ Laura rolled her eyes, she was covering the back, did Daryl really need to be there too?

He was though and she turned to see everyone entering the CDC building. "Hello?" The echoes could be heard from her place just outside. She hurried back to the group.

Daryl aimed at her, she raised her hands. "Don't shoot! It's me." He lowered his gun, "Get inside." He instructed her and she was happy to accept. Heading inside the CDC, she felt a wave of nostalgia.

There was a loud sound that reminded her of a weapon being cocked. "Anybody infected?" _That's because it was a gun being cocked._ Laura mused, the man was demanding an answer Laura would, in being honest, say yes to.

They all reacted to the sound of the gun first, then Rick lowered his own gun when he saw the man. "One of our group was. He didn't make it."

"Why are you here, what do you want?" The man stepped forward, showing himself a little better to the group.

"A chance." Rick was panting, tired, stressed, and praying to every deity out there that they could stay. Going back out there would almost certainly kill them. With such low supplies and a gathering number of walkers just outside... Yeah, it would kill some of them.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know." _  
_

The man was looking at them, studying them intently. He could see the scared faces of the women, the tears in the children's eyes, and how terrified and tired everyone else was. This seemed to be the final straw for the man.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." _Oh goddammit._ Laura glared to herself.

"We can do that."

The man immediately lowered his gun, "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed." Rick turned and ran with the others, Laura followed them a little bit behind them all.

She didn't have any bags, she owned nothing except the tent and bedroll they gave her... and maybe the clothes on her back, but they needed protection as much as anyone else. So she followed them to and from the cars, bags piled on each shoulder.

Once they were all back inside safely, the man stopped at the door and swiped a card. "Vi, seal the main entrance and kill the power up here."

Rick stood in front of the man, offering his hand. "Rick Grimes." The man awkwardly accepted it. "Doctor Edwin Jenner."

He lead them all to the elevator, they were going straight down and they could all feel it. Everyone stuffed themselves into the elevator, pushing some up against the sides.

"Doctor's always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl, of course, asked. "Oh, there were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." He glanced around everyone in the elevator. "But you all look harmless enough." Jenner looked down to Carl, "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you."

When the elevator stopped, everyone followed Jenner out without a word. He lead them down a few halls until Laura saw Carol get a little uncomfortable.

"Are we underground?" She was looking at the ceiling and walls around them.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner turned slightly.

Carol shrugged, "A little." She admitted, the feeling of being trapped under the surface was not an inviting thought.

"Try not to think about it."

They all came to a large dark room, people were slowing down when Jenner walked straight in. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The lights snapped on, a large circular light system shone over the platform in the room. "Welcome to Zone Five."

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick had taken note that he hadn't seen anyone else around since they entered the building.

"I'm it." Jenner stood in the center of the room. "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Laura was proud she remembered the answer, her father showed her Vi when she was younger and she'd visit him at the CDC. "Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them... welcome."

"Hello guests. Welcome." The computerized voice played out over the intercoms. Laura liked Vi. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner could see the absolute disappointment on their faces.

After they arrived in the big room, Jenner lead them into another room where he set up supplies to draw blood.

To test it.

_Oh no_. Laura cringed, this could end badly.


	16. The Girl in the Corner

Jenner drew blood, everyone's. Including hers, which she wasn't so keen on. He was in deep thought ever since he took Andrea's blood and she nearly collapsed. He was planning something and now, because of her past, Laura felt like if he was planning something, that it couldn't be good.

How wrong she had been when, not long after the blood had all been drawn, they were taken to the cafeteria where whoever could cook, made a meal. Carol, Lori, T-Dog, and Jenner to a lesser extent all started cooking, dealing out plates of food, glasses of wine and water. All fresh as could be.

Laura never drank a drop in her life and wasn't going to break that streak now. She found some soda's and popped two, sitting down and enjoying the sugary drink while everyone else found themselves gulping down wine.

It is quite literally a table full of laughter. To her utter shock, Daryl was laughing just as hard as the rest of the group and Shane was the one sitting and sulking.

It was like someone turned Daryl into Shane and Shane into Daryl without anyone noticing.

She wouldn't complain though, Daryl was enjoyable when he was happy. A rare occurrence, sure, but still a welcome one. Laura could hear him over everyone else, kind of like the room was underwater except for her and Daryl, his voice just stuck out to her, she took notice of it more then the others.

Laura would giggle here or there, but the topics were not much of interest to her. Until Dale tried to convince Lori to let Carl have wine. That was funny.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale poured Lori a glass and handed it to her. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori had her hand on top of Carl's cup.

Rick chuckled, "What's it gonna' hurt. Come on." He insisted, the warning look from Lori made everyone try and hold back their laughs. "Come on." Lori removed her hand with a _do what you want_.

Dale poured Carl a small amount of wine before handing it to him. "Here you are young lad."

He was anxious about it and gladly took the cup from Dale and sipped it. He recoiled instantly. "Eww!" And the room lit up with laughter again. Everyone finding the child's reaction humorous.

Lori rubbed his back, "That's my boy." She poured Carl's wine into her glass. Carl shook his head, "That tastes nasty."

"Why don't you stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane managed to crack a grin at Carl.

"Not you Glenn." Laura giggled, Daryl was rather forcefully giving Glenn more to drink. He innocently looked around, confused like hell. "What?" Daryl was now leaning over the table, pouring more to drink. "Keep drinkin' little man, I wanna' see how red your face can get."

Everyone laughed again, the confused amused grin coming from Glenn tickled everyone.

Their merriments were paused when Rick tapped his glass and stood. "It seems to me that we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more then just our host." T-Dog raised his glass, followed by everyone in the room crying out; "Here, here!"

"Booyah!" Daryl bellowed out, still clutching that whiskey bottle like it was an old friend. The room took it from there, announcing their "Booyah"'s to Jenner and his kindness to let them into the CDC then feed them.

People were laughing like the world hadn't gone to hell, like they didn't see their loved ones die. For once, they enjoyed the peace and quiet of not running from the undead or worrying about making too much noise. Nothing could hear them and even if they could, the walkers could never reach them.

All good things must come to an end, and this good thing met a very thick headed end named Shane.

"So when are you gonna' tell us what the hell happened here, Doc?" Shane had an almost unreadable expression, _almost_. Laura calls it the ' _I want to be an asshole right now so deal with it_ ' expression. She's seen it a few times. "All the other doctors, supposed to be figurin' out what happened. Where are they?"

"We're celebrating Shane." Rick warned cautiously, he knew his friend looked a little off. "No need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move. Supposed to find all the answers." Shane chuckled without humor, "Instead, we found him. We found one man. Why?"

"Well when things got bad people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Laura could understand that, a little cowardice perhaps when they're the people trusted to, in the event of a catastrophic plague of some proportion, try and find a way to end it.

"Every last one?" Shane looked a little smug, Laura didn't know why.

"No. Many couldn't face walking out the door, they... opted out." Laura sighed, Shane was such a jackass for ruining this fine night. "There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea was interested and her question made Laura the same. With so many leaving, running away, or committing suicide, you'd think the last man standing would've left too.

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." Laura smiled a little at that, Jenner was trying and that's all that matters now.

Glenn came walking around the table, taking a seat behind them. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill man."

"Let me show you where you'll be sleeping." Jenner rose, everyone else not too far behind him.

They followed close, carrying their bags with them as Jenner lead them down another hallway. "Most of the facilities have powered down, including housing. So you'll have to make due here. Couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like."

Jenner pointed in front of him, "There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power." He had stopped and turned to face them all.

"Same applies, if you shower go easy on the hot water."

Every last person heard Jenner, but they only heard one thing. Glenn looked over his shoulder to them. "Hot water?"

With that, people rushed to their rooms, getting ready for their first hot shower in a long time.

Laura was looking forward to being clean, she knew that in the two days that she had eaten anything that her body has graciously chosen to start putting on weight again, she would gain it much easier in her condition, which had been starving for months, but with a little more food here or there, she figured that she could be back up to a healthy weight in no time.

She could feel her ribs, see them too. She was nothing but bones now, with the hope that that wouldn't be true for much longer.

Closing the door, she stripped and threw her clothes wherever they wanted to go in her room and ran into the bathroom, the water turned on and within a few seconds steam began to rise.

Stepping in, she froze as the heated water started to wash off months of dirt, blood, and grime. There were soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and two loufas. It was well stocked and she adored every scrub.

When she was done, she wrapped herself up and stepped out of the shower. Laura looked into the mirror, looking at her new clean face and body. She considered that, even with a few walker-like bits and pieces, she didn't look _that_ bad...

She bit her lip, _Okay, so it's kinda weird._ She ran her hand down her face, it was losing it's narrowness caused by starvation, just barely but she wanted to see it gone. Laura wanted to look as healthy as she could in her position.

Her skin didn't tan well, it was pale but had a steely blue tint to it. Her white iris' contrasted against her dark scleras' unnaturally. It didn't matter though, these could be over looked like it could've been in the world of the past. She would look strange, but no one would try to put a bullet in her brain.

_Or an arrow._ She huffed, Daryl didn't seem cross with her that day in the woods or even when she rode in the truck to the CDC. He was quiet and let her think to herself. She needed the time to think about Daryl knowing.

He most certainly wasn't a bad person, she actually thought he'd give her a chance to show that she is not a mindless cannibalistic monster. Laura thought she did that already, to a certain extent, with everything she has done so far... but things happen.

Her mind noticed that she spent time more on Daryl then anyone else. She rolled her eyes, of course she'd think something like that. Laura would never say it, but she started to find him a little more attractive every time she looks at him.

He wasn't an overly large man, but not small and lanky either. He was buff, average height, short tempered, but willing to fight for the people he appears to hate. Daryl was always covered in sweat and dirt, and that telltale musky smell of Daryl Dixon. He walked around like he owned the place and instead of acting like his brother did that day on the roof, Daryl _tolerated_ people and helped them when he could, even if it was something small.

He'd also deny it to the ends of the Earth. Daryl wouldn't willingly tell anyone he was helping out even if you were to torture him.

Laura hadn't said much to Daryl in the last few days she'd known him, but she wasn't going to lie to herself and say the man was unattractive, that was most certainly not the case. Daryl had a real mans' body, not all that oiled up muscle made at the gym on late nights, he had real weight on his bones, the muscle was thick and dirsty. His bicep was as big as her, especially in her current state.

_Stop thinking about him like that. You weirdo._ Laura groaned so loud she was actually worried about someone hearing her. She was attracted to Daryl, the man had a body, but it was more then just sexual tension, she liked _him._ How he carried himself, how he talked, she listened to him and ignored everyone else. She always thought more about his words then anyone else's.

_God, you're acting like a teenage girl. Grow the fuck up._ Laura closed her eyes and ran her hands down her face, her nails dragging lightly on her skin. _On the topic of people knowing..._ Laura groaned, she'd have to talk to Jenner before he fell into a panic.

When she stepped into her room to get her clothes, she was met with a very estranged looking Daryl Dixon, still holding onto that bottle of whiskey which was, for his pride, actually below half empty now.

"Daryl, what are you doin' here?" She pulled the tower around her tighter, she felt exposed in her minimal clothing choice.

He sauntered over to her, probably on accident judging from how amazingly drunk he was. He stood close to her now, not saying a word yet and reached out to run a hand up her upper arm.

Goosebumps formed and she got a little concerned, drunk Daryl was definitely more forward but clearly not as intelligent. "Daryl, you're drunk. Go to bed."

"I ain't that drunk." His nose twitched, "I was just checkin' in on ya'. Didn't say nothin' at dinner, figured somethin' was botherin' ya'." He gulped, his words weren't too badly slurred, there were a few that proved quite challenging to him, but she wasn't about to let this continue while he would wake up in the morning and forget ever speaking to her.

"Come on." She took hold of his arm and lead him to the couch, there were no read beds unfortunately.

Sitting him down, Laura untied and pulled of his boots and laid him down. She took out her two blankets and put them over him. Apparently, he was drunk enough to let her put him to bed and take the whiskey away.

"I came here for a reason, woman." He grasped her forearm, the one that had just been placing the blanket on his far side. He didn't grip it hard, but enough to get her attention.

"And what reason would that be?"

Daryl chewed on the inside of his lip, his jaw tensing. She knew this was one of his nervous twitches, two of them really, but that he only did it when he was actually nervous about something. Whatever he wanted to tell her, he thought it was important enough to come here in a drunken haze to say, but couldn't get it out right away. Laura was alright with waiting, Daryl wanted someone to listen, she was going to do just that.

"I..." He coughed a little, it sounded more like purposeful fake coughing, but she had no problem being patient with him. He looked down to his feet. "I think ya look fine."

Laura blinked, was he talking about seeing her, about outing her?

"I mean... I think ya' look..." He groaned, his drunken state causing a little hiccup. "I like how ya' look. Ya' look... different. Ya' look good."

"Daryl... Are you complimenting me?" Laura squinted her eyes, looking at Daryl's troubled ones.

"No, well... yeah. I was just thinkin' that... I-" He let out a loud frustrated sigh. Something Laura was not used to hear coming from him of all people, but it was a reminder that he was drunk as he could possibly be without killing himself. "Ya' look... _pretty_."

Laura froze just like she did when she got under the shower and Daryl looked about ready to jump out a window. If there was one to jump out of. "Why would you tell me this?"

The hunter huffed, "Need a reason ta' tell a girl she's pretty?" Laura looked away for a moment, before facing Daryl and nodding. He tried to go for his whiskey, but Laura held it out of reach with a warning expression. "Fine... I like... I like ya' a bit, that's... all."

Laura grinned, "I like you a bit too." His turn to smirk at her, "Figured that part out darlin'. You always... starin' and shit. Thought... that must be somethin'... ya' likin' for ya' eyes... eyes to be glued ta' me like that."

She barely ever realized that she stared at Daryl when she though he wasn't looking, but she did. She remembered doing it. "Oh shut up and get some sleep." She shook her head, _That was relatively painless._ Laura realized she was still in that stupid towel, Daryl hadn't given her time to change yet. "You get some shut eye, I'm going to..." _Telling him about going to see Jenner would be a HUGE mistake._ "I'm going to go find a book to read, I'll come right back."

Daryl was already nodding off.

She smiled and picked up her clothes off the floor. Dressing herself back up, she left the room quietly and made a bee line to the big room where she was hoping Jenner was in.

"-never told them what I really thought." Laura's attention snapped ahead of her, she saw Rick there with Jenner. Rick knew about her, sure, but Jenner may think that he doesn't. He could raise alarms. "I just kept it in."

"It'll be alright." Jenner's words sounded like baseless comforts, "It'll be okay."

After a few moments of sitting there drunk, Rick got up unsteadily and headed out the door, passing by Laura without even acknowledging her.

She stepped into the room, quiet as a mouse and slowly approached Jenner in his seat. He already knew, he must've, it just wasn't possible for him to _not_ know if he'd done those blood tests. "So, about those tests...?"

Jenner turned in his chair, leaning back. "Yes, is there anything you would like to tell me?"

Laura had her hood up again, Jenner couldn't see her. "Look, it ain't what you think. I'm fine, really, it happened a long while ago and I'm not going to eat anyone. I would never."

He sighed, "I actually don't know what you're talking about."

She reeled back a little, "But, you asked...?"

"I asked if you wanted to tell me something, but judging by what you just said... I'm going to say you were bit? It must've been just before I let you in, otherwise, you'd be showing signs of a fever." Jenner inspected her, but couldn't get a good enough look. "Unless you are and I just can't see it."

"No, I'm not sick... I was bit before the outbreak really happened, before it got really bad." Laura pulled down her hood, revealing herself. "I turned thereafter like anyone else would, but my father, a scientist who actually used to work here, had taken me away and after two months of continued study he was able to return me my free will and sanity."

Jenner stood up instantly and crossed the room, Laura took a step back ready to run, worried of what he might do. But he slowed to a near stop and held his hands up, "No, don't go... I just... I want to look at you."

He was so close she could feel his breath, but he was trepid, like she was a wild rabbit and the wrong move would scare her off. He reached out to her and touched her face, it was shocking at first, but he wasn't doing anything strange, he was checking, as best he could without the proper equipment, her density and muscle structure.

"Are you experiencing decomposition?" He asked, pressing a thumb to her temples, a soft spot of the skull that often collapsed first.

"No, I didn't even when I was a walker. My father had the room treated and kept me alive to the best of his ability." Laura answered, "Say _ahh_." He asked and she complied.

He leaned down to look in her mouth. Sure enough, her glands were creating healthy amounts of saliva, her pigmentation in her mouth was a little off, but it wasn't a problem. Her teeth were healthy and her jaw worked fine.

Jenner took a single step back and looked over her. "Jacket off please."

She unzipped it and showed her dirty, bloody tank top underneath. He was checking her arms, they were very boney and didn't have much to them. "Emaciated, heavy bruising, but functional."

"I work fine thank you very much." She rotated her shoulders, elbows, wrists and wiggled her fingers. "I have a heart beat, but it is very faint. I can bleed to death, but it would take me a long time to do so rather then you or the others."

"I can't believe it." Jenner took a few weary steps back to his seat and sat down. "Here I've been studying to find a way to solve this for months and then, all of a sudden, you walk in. The answer. You solve everything."

"I what?" Laura's brow furrowed.

"I did your blood test and found something I've never seen before." Jenner explained, "A kind of anti-bacteria that would destroy any stems of the virus. I can mix your blood and theirs and it's the same result. The virus in their blood stream is eliminated completely, erased like it wasn't even there. Then it starts it's own chain reanimation. It's a hybrid of the virus, it works the same way but somehow, _somehow_ , it uses what virus there is and builds off of it, until the brain had restarted and the virus is turned to a different cause."

"So, I still have the virus in me?"

"Yes, but..." He turned his chair to the desk and took out a piece of paper and a pen. "Come here."

Laura looked over his shoulder as he drew the human skull, brain, and make little lines all around the brain. "This is the brain, these lines are synapses." Laura nodded, "I went to a good school, was going to become a doctor. I understand this."

He nodded, "Good, I won't have to explain everything then." He smirked before returning to his work. "The virus," He erased a part of the brain, at the cranium and redrew much darker lines. "It effects the brain stem, it gets them around, makes them capable of walking, grabbing, all the normal things."

"So is that what mine is?" Laura frowned, she wasn't still a walker and she knew that she couldn't possibly be able to do half the things she does now without her frontal cortex.

"The best I can guess it that this cure, and I use that word loosely, your father developed uses the virus to rebuild the parts of the brain that were lost to the virus, but I can't know for certain. The machines are all powered down." Jenner looked disappointed, "You being here, being _alive_ despite the odds is nothing short of a miracle. He created a way to build a human from the virus, it's ingenious really, but it is not a cure."

"I still don't know how I feel about being... me. Being like this is a hassle, the others... Only Rick knows, I told him everything and he's willing to accept me because I've helped them and have continued to do so." Laura paced, "Walkers don't bother me, haven't since I woke up cured. I can treat them like dirt, beat them, kill them, shout at them, they don't do anything to me."

"They still see you as one of them, you have no _human_ smell, you have none at all aside from the soaps in that shower." Jenner chuckled, "You look like them, albeit still more human then the others, but to do all that and still have them not harm you? I don't know the answer to that."

"I don't need answers about what I am, I just want them to know I would never hurt them, but I'm unsure how to even bring it up." Laura smiled, "I mean, it's not everyday someone you know walks up and says _Hey guys, nice day. Oh yeah, and I'm a walker. Sorry._ No big deal right?" She laughed out loud finally, she was being serious but still found sharing it tickled her.

Jenner nodded, "Yeah, I can't imagine that ending well."

"Well, Doctor, I just wanted to come in here and talk to you..." She shrugged, "And I did. I'm glad you're so... nonchalant about all this. It's a lot to take in, I should know, I have to live with it."

"There's nothing wrong with you. You're human again." Jenner stood and rested his hands on her shoulders, she jumped at the contact, but remained in the same spot. "That is a gift, no matter what they say."

"Thank you Doctor." Laura let out a deep breath, "I'm just going to go check on the others. Maybe call it a day and read a book. Goodnight Doctor." She waved goodbye, he just watched her go.

She made a point of going to the rec room and picking out a few books, she'd be up all night just reading. She had to do something to pass the time.

When she got back to her room, there was Daryl, arm across his forehead and that bottle of whiskey back in his hands. "Daryl, dammit." She crossed the room after closing the door and snatched the bottle up. He'd been drinking like it was his last day on Earth. "You gotta' lay off the booze, get some sleep."

"Where ya' been?" He was definitely more drunk now then before.

"Went to get a book, didn't get ya' anythin'." She smirked, "Go to bed, you jackass. You're gonna' feel like shit tomorrow anyways."

He grumbled something but she couldn't hear him, he'd already passed out again and she went straight to reading.

Talking with Jenner actually made her more hopeful, more excited about the world even though it was ending. She felt, for the first time in her life, like she was _important_. Something that she couldn't explain right no matter who asked, she just couldn't put words to how wonderful it felt being needed in the world, somewhere, by someone.

She didn't know how, but she could help people, maybe even find her father and help him develop more of the cure.

Laura didn't care how they did it at this point, only that the cure be produced and distributed so they could return people back to normal again.

It would really be a miracle.


	17. The Man Sitting Alone

Laura was reading when the first event of the day happened.

Daryl woke up.

She smiled and laughed, "Welcome back to realm of the living." He flipped her off, a strained groan coming from the hungover man as he tried his damnest to get up and off the couch. It took him a fair amount of time, but he finally managed to sit up right. Barely.

"Long was I out?" He ran a hand through his messy hair, he was squinting but it was dark in the room, no windows and no lights on. Laura put her book down to not raise any unwanted alarms so _early_ , if it was actually morning.

"Don't know honestly. Haven't a clock to keep time." She shrugged, he managed to get up and headed straight for the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

She continued to read for a few minutes, she heard the shower running and steam rose from the crack at the bottom of the door. It wasn't helping that Laura was thinking about Daryl taking a shower in _her_ shower.

Laura sighed, _Don't start this now, the man can barely stand._

When Daryl reemerged from the bathroom, he actually _looked_ clean. It was a shocking change from the usual dirty gritty Daryl that she'd come to know. She couldn't actually imagine what he looked like without being covered in grime and now that he was... Laura's eyes narrowed. The damn looked damn _fine_.

He couldn't see her _appreciating_ him in the dark, but he did pause and look at her. "The hell?"

She diverted her eyes, like she'd been caught red handed, but she didn't know how. It was pitch black in the room, to a normal person there wasn't a possible way for him to see her drooling over him.

Daryl walked to the door and flipped on the switch. He looked straight at her and she returned the blank look. He flipped the light off again and then back on. He continued to do so until Laura got a very bored look on her face and rolled her eyes. "Daryl, what are ya' doin'?"

"Your eyes." She blinked, tilting her head. "They're glowin'."

Laura shut her eyes, "You're seein' things."

"No, I ain't. They're glowin'." He replied gruffly, he stopped flipping the light and left it on. "I told ya', I ain't stupid."

"Then you're imaginin' things. You're hungover, probably seein' all sorts of bright lights." She tried to divert his attention, but only ended getting him more interested.

"Ain't my first time havin' a hangover, I know what it does." He pointed at her, "Never seen anybodies' eyes glow."

"It's reflecting light, that's actually pretty common." She averted her eyes and acted like she was reading her book, but she was too worried about Daryl asking too many questions. Her hood was up, but it wasn't covering her face as much as usual. So she pulled it down again.

Daryl huffed, "Yer makin' excuses."

"Daryl, just stop." Laura sighed, "Just... stop now." _Why wouldn't Micheal just stop?_ She put her head in her hands, "I'm sure the others are up, go get breakfast or something. Maybe Jenner has some medicine for your hangover."

That seemed to be it for Daryl, he left the room. Allowing Laura some peace before she got up to have breakfast too. Daryl was pursuing it, cautiously but not favoring anything, he wanted to know and must've felt it needed to be known. He didn't strike Laura as the kind of guy who would just press on a topic that clearly makes someone uncomfortable just because he wanted to know, he had to have thought there was more then that.

For now though, he hadn't pressed too far and she was able to keep her secret.

Laura just now realized where she was.

Underground and locked inside the CDC, if they found out while she was inside... Laura's entire body froze up in fear. She wouldn't have a way to escape, no undead horde's to comfort her, no safety of being able to run into their greatest enemy without so much as a second thought.

She had to play it safe, no joining in crowd events, talk to no one as best she could, and remain in whatever dark corners she could find. Laura didn't know how long they'd be there, but she'd have to remain quiet and invisible to stay alive.

Ironically, the place where they were the safest was the single most dangerous place for her.

She was hungry now though, it had been a good twenty minutes since Daryl left and she was just getting hungrier and hungrier. So she got up and left her room.

Right before the door closed, she noted the lights in the hallway and reversed back into her room and shut the door. The light trickled in from the outside, just barely. _There, that's a better excuse._ She wanted to cover herself if Daryl decided to start questioning her again when she made it to the cafeteria.

However, when she reached the cafeteria, all she saw was a bunch of the group sitting around the table they'd eaten at last night and were all enjoying breakfast.

There was a happy announcement from T-Dog. "Eggs! Powdered but I do 'em good." He walked over to a very sad looking Glenn and a disturbed Rick, "Bet ya' can't even tell. Protein helps the hangover."

A painful groan from from Glenn confirmed he heard him but didn't care.

Rick was looking at a bottle of pills. "Where'd all this come from?" Rick passed the bottle to his wife, "Jenner."  
He looked at the bottle rather pitifully, "Can you help me?" She just took it and popped it open, "He thought we could use it, some of us at least." Lori grinned at Glenn who had Jacqui rubbing his shoulders as he rested his head on his wrist.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." That sound was enough to make Laura giggle at him.

"Hey." Shane had come strolling in, looking no worse for wear. Rick barely turned to acknowledge him, but not because he didn't want to greet his friend. "Hey."

Shane went straight for a cup of coffee, "Feel as bad as I do?" Rick practically _chugged_ those pills. "Worse."

T-Dog was next to Shane, staring at him in confusion. "What the hell happened to you? Your neck." He was looking at four angry looking cuts, one on his jaw and the other three on his neck.

"Must've done it in my sleep." Shane sat down, sipping his coffee. Rick was looking at the marks now too. "Never seen you do that before."

Shane looked up, glanced around the table before his eyes rested on Lori. "Me neither. Not like me at all."

_Oh seriously?_ Laura could figure this out from here and she was standing a good few feet away from them all. Shane and Lori? Lori seemed like a rather loyal wife actually, not one to go sleeping around. Since Rick got back...

_Since Rick got back... Ah._ She could put the puzzle together pretty easily. Rick had only found his family the same day she joined the group, Lori and Shane could've been together before that.

_Not my problem._ She licked her lips, their soap opera didn't concern her, especially now. Laura needed to watch her back, no one else here had it. She was alone again, for now, and had to make sure she didn't get herself killed like she nearly did last time. _Complacency and contentedness will get me killed. If I just keep my wits about me, I'll pull through._

Laura went to grab a plate, T-Dog was dishing out eggs and happily filled her plate with them. "Thank you." She left the main table where everyone was at and sat alone in the dark to eat.

As she ate, she heard someone else walk in. "Mornin'." It was Jenner and everyone greeted the doctor as he went for his own cup of joe.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing." Dale had spoken up, apparently he had more questions for Jenner. Laura was satisfied in her knowledge, there was too much to know and too little time to learn it all.

"But you will anyway." He didn't looked to them, just poured his drink.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea was straight forward, something Laura wasn't expecting from her.

Jenner turned around this time and saw them altogether eating. "When you're done, meet me in the big room." Jenner rounded the table and walked up to where Laura was sitting, he tapped her shoulder. "You may want to see this."

Everyone stood up, ignoring the rest of their food and followed Jenner out of the cafeteria. Laura wasn't too far behind, she shoveled in what eggs she could and caught up to them. She wanted no more answers then them, but Jenner invited her and anything he had to say was interesting to her.

They all entered the large room with all the computers, Jenner ahead of them all.

He set down his coffee and typed something onto one of the computers. "Give me playback of TS-19."

"Playback of TS-19." Vi, the computer, repeated and the large screen in front of them displayed a loading bar before lines appeared, words and numbers flashed onto the screen, all incomprehensible to her. "Few people ever got to see this. Very few."

The screen had MRI scans of a human skull and brain, lights washed over the largest image of the human skin, skull, and brain before it tilted view to the side. Effectively cutting the head in half.

"Is that a brain?" Carl sounded excited, Jenner just grinned. "An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end."

He withdrew again, locked himself up. "Take us in for EIV."

"Enhanced Internal View." The screen drove straight into the brain, showing the synapses that Jenner and Laura had spoken about the night before. They were like white flashes all across the brain, the millions of lights creating the smallest of thoughts to the loudest of ideals.

"What're those lights?" Shane asked first, Laura no doubt believed most of the people in this room didn't recognize what they were looking at.

Laura went up to stand near Daryl this time, she stood behind him just a little bit, he noticed her but didn't do anything about it. He looked at her for a moment and could easily pick up that she knew what was going on.

He turned his attention back to the screen, back to the brain.

"Those are a persons' life. Experiences, memories. It's everything." He gestured to the screen, "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light, is _you_. Is the thing that makes you, unique and human."

The others were a little too caught up in shock and awe to speak up. Except Daryl who looked a little antsy, but Laura didn't know what about. "You don't make sense, ever?"

Laura smiled, of course he'd make a joke at this.

"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages." Jenner explained, "They determine what a person says, does, _thinks_. From the moment of birth... until the moment of death."

"Death? That's what this is? A vigil?" Rick walked up to the doctor, getting a better look at the brain.

"Yes..." Jenner stared at the screen, "Or... or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died? Who?" Laura was happy someone was actually thinking of the person this brain belonged to. It was very human of her to consider other human life first.

"Test Subject Nineteen." _That was a little... dissociative._ "Someone who was bitten, infected, and volunteered for us to record the process." They all couldn't take their eyes off the screen, the lights were almost hypnotic and each of them were thinking about how all of that was inside their heads all the time.

It was a lot to think about.

"Vi, scan forward to the first event." Jenner's voice tore everyone from their thoughts.

"Scanning to first event."

The screen had another loading bar and the brain changed from the bright whites and blues and now had this black and reddish tint, what looked like roots in the brain were slowly strangling out the electric impulses.

Glenn seemed to have gotten over his hangover quickly. "What is that?"

"It invades the brain like meningitis, the adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shut down, then the major organs." He listed off fatal side effects of the virus and Laura felt like he was telling her what she had thought were her last moments alive. The brain on the screen went pitch black, no lights, nothing but darkness. "Then death. Everything you ever were or will be. Gone."

Being bitten, taken into a room, the basement of the old house that was made into a lab. She was laid on the table without straps at first, but she never moved, it hurt too much to move.

He would do tests then too, but she was stifled, every moment felt like she was struggling for air and while trying her hardest to not move so nothing felt like breaking, her body was killing itself slowly and every second was worse then the last.

She remembered closing her eyes for the last time, what she thought was the last time, and being thankful that she was finally going to die. It had taken so long, hurt to bad, nothing truly compared to it. Even breathing felt like someone was driving a dull blade into her skin, digging through the flesh and slowly breaking the bones.

Laura cringed, she didn't want to remember that pain, it was too much.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" The young Sophia asked her mother, "Yes."

Andrea was trying to cope, to keep herself together with everyone in the room and Jenner noticed this. Lori was the one to speak on it though. "She lost somebody two days ago. Her... sister."

"I lost somebody too, I know how devastating it is." Jenner offered her consoling words, but Andrea was still going to mourn her sister. "Scan to the second event." He faced the screen again.

"Scanning to second event."

The loading bar reappeared, "The resurrection times vary wildly. We have reports of it happening in as little and three minutes, the longest we've heard of was eight hours." Everyone got closer for this, to witness the brain and how it was awoken by the virus. "In the case of this one patient it was two hours, one minute, and seven seconds."

Only a few seconds passed before red lights began to flare inside the brain, but it wasn't lighting up everything, only a select spot, the rest was still as dead as before.

"It restarts the brain?" _Had they been killing people this entire time?_ That was almost Laura's question.

"No, just the brain stem." _Oh thank God._ She felt a little weird at being relived to hear his answer. "Basically it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick had just about asked her question word for word.

Jenner stepped aside, "You tell me."

Rick shook his head as he looked at the screen, the brain looked dead to all of them. "It's nothin' like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark. Lifeless. Dead." Jenner described, "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part; that doesn't come back. The _you_ part." The body on screen began to move, "Just a shell, driven by mindless instinct."

A small edged object came into view before a bright light flashed and there was a cavity in the head, the test subject was now permanently dead.

"God, what was that?"

Andrea recognized it, "He shot his patient in the head." She was going over the memory of shooting Amy, "Didn't you?"

"Vi, power down the main screen and the work stations." Jenner turned away, he didn't give and answer and Andrea's question caused him to lock up again.

"Powering down main screen and work stations."

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea's question was more pointed, they all wanted answers and he didn't have them.

"It... could be microbial. Viral, parasitic, fungal." Everyone got the idea, Jenner didn't know what it was and that meant no one else here had any idea either.

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui offered. Jenner turned to her, "There's that."

"Somebody must know something, somebody, somewhere." Andrea's comment was more akin to a plea then an actual confident opinion. Laura, however, knew of one person that made Andrea right.

Laura wouldn't say anything, there was a high chance he was dead now anyways. If he wasn't, she wished he'd hurry up and die.

Carol was saddened by this discovery. "There are others right? Other facilities?"

Jenner shrugged, "There may be some. People like me." That made him even quieter.

"But you don't know, how can you not know?" Rick was desperate, they came for answers and he wasn't any closer to them then they were. "Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here." Andrea continued, "There's nothing left anywhere. That's what you're really saying, right?" Jenner looked down, he wanted to give them what they needed, but he had nothing. His silence answered Andrea louder then he ever could and everyone felt it.

Jacqui felt like the air had been stolen from her lungs. Lori was on the verge of tears, as was Carol. T-Dog and Glenn just stared blankly off into space.

"Man, I'm goin' to get shit faced drunk again." Daryl rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands.

"Doctor, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but..." Dale turned and pointed to a large red timer on the wall. "That clock, it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

No one noticed it before now, Laura could barely remember seeing it when she was in this room last.

"The... basement generators, they run out of fuel." Jenner spoke quickly and Laura got suspicious.

"And then?" Rick prompted, but Jenner didn't say anything. He walked off without another word. Everyone was disturbed by this. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination with occur."

Laura's eyes rolled shut. She remember decontaminating in the old chemistry labs, her father even explained it once or twice. In the event of an incident, they would _decontaminate_ with fire.

"Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, with me." Rick ordered, the three men nodded and followed Rick out of the room. The rest went on to think about what Jenner had said.

Carol and Lori took their kids to the rec room, the others mostly followed. Others went back to their rooms.

Daryl apparently went to get drunk again and Laura followed him, he noticed it but didn't show any signs of caring. Once he was in his room, he stood with the door open, waiting for her to come around the corner.

She entered the room and the door swung shut.

Laura held her hand out for Daryl's whiskey, he looked at the label and passed it to her. She smelled it, it was strong and didn't smell very appealing, but if the building was going to go up in flames, she wasn't against having her first taste of an alcoholic beverage.

She sipped it and swallowed, it tasted as bad as it smelled and burned worse. She opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out. "That's disgustin'."

Daryl grinned, took a swig and had absolutely no reaction to it. "Ain't the best whiskey, but it ain't that bad."

"I've never drank anythin' like that, just keep that in mind." She shuddered, "It doesn't exactly fit my palate."

Things went quiet for a little, Daryl just fell onto the couch drinking the whiskey like it was water. She wasn't sure that was really possible or even healthy, but she doubted Daryl did many things for his own health.

Laura remembered him looking rather odd after Jenner told them about the virus, what it was or what it did, he didn't know what it was at all. She figured her father knew, but she wasn't about to go out looking for him to ask what his take was on all this. That would be one of her bad ideas.

"So, ya' here to talk 'bout somethin' or tell me off again?" Laura winced, was Daryl sore about her shutting off to him? She should've figured he'd bring it up when she followed him and yet she did, Laura wanted to be in the company of someone she considered a friend and that she felt a little more sure of then just Glenn, T-Dog, or Jacqui.

"I didn't _tell you off_." Laura shrugged and sat on the opposite end of the couch, "I just... I can't answer those questions. You can't be askin' them."

"Why the hell not?" He handed her the bottle and it didn't smell any better now then it did a few seconds ago. Still, she tried to swig it like Daryl was doing and did a good job of it, but it still tasted bad to her.

"You won't like the answers." Laura gave him the bottle back, while he accepted it he didn't take his attention off her or drink from it again. He just _looked_ at her, actually, if she was being completely honest, it was more like a gaze. He was asking her what she meant by just looking at her. "I mean... If I told you, it wouldn't end well."

Daryl scoffed, "You tellin' me what I'll do now?"

"No, just goin' off of experience." She brought her legs up underneath her, "It doesn't end well."

He seemed to go with that and drank some more whiskey, he offered it to her but she denied it. "That just... Nooo, it's gross." He smirked and pulled the bottle back to him. "More fer me." He took another swig.

"What's your take on all this?" She asked him, fiddling with a loose string on her jeans.

Daryl just tightened his jaw and stared at her, "I guess it ain't nothin' we didn't know already." Laura rolled her eyes, "Not really, we knew somethin' went wrong, really wrong, but not on the scale Jenner talked about."

He bit his thumb, the topic was starting to cause him to think deeper then he wanted to. "I don't know... Weird bein' the only ones left. Figurin' we just settle in and keep outta' the way of the walkers. Don't care what the world does, just gotta' keep survivin'."

Laura nodded, "Fuck the world."

He smirked, "Exactly."

They didn't say anything else, just sat together in comfortable silence while Daryl drank the whiskey slowly. It was nearly empty by the time Laura felt something strange and heard it too.

The air conditioning, that quiet hum that was in the back of her hearing was no longer there and she didn't feel the low breeze it provided.

"Hey Daryl?" He looked to her, "The air's off."

He focused on that for a moment, stood up and raised a hand to the vent in the ceiling. She was right, there wasn't any air coming through. "The hell." His brow furrowed, he looked around for a moment, then the light turned off. "What the hell is this?" He was aggravated now.

Laura got up and opened the door, the hall light was still on and Daryl leaned out the door.

"Hey, what's goin' on? Why's everythin' bein' turned off?" Jenner came walking by wearing his lab coat, when he passed he stole the whiskey from Daryl.

The others were in the hall, asking the same thing. Laura sighed, she knew it then. That count down timer was at one hour when they left the big room, she didn't think she was with Daryl _that_ long.

"Energy use is being prioritized." Jenner said in a passing manner.

"Air isn't a priority and lights?" Dale questioned, Jenner took his own swig of the whiskey. "It's not up to me. Zone Five is shutting itself down."

"Hey," Daryl called, "Hey, what the hells' that mean?" He ran up beside Jenner, who was actively ignoring him. "Man I'm talkin' to you." Jenner kept moving, he wasn't saying anything. "What'do ya' mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a buildin' do anythin'?"

"You'd be surprised."

Laura could hear the others, Rick, Shane, Glenn, and T-Dog down below them. Lori leaned over the bars, "Rick?"

Jenner descended down the stairs, the entire group now following him. On the ground floor, Rick stalked up to the quiet man. "Jenner, what's happening?" He walked backwards to face Jenner while they walked, "The system is dropping all non-essential uses of power. It is designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second. It starts as we approach the half hour mark." Jenner pointed to the clock as they entered the big room. "Right on schedule."

Taking another drink of whiskey, Jenner paused and held the bottle out for Daryl, who took it back, but was less interested in the drink as he was what was happening. "It was the French."

"What?"

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner faced the group. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution." Jenner climbed the small staircase to the main platform.

"What happened?" Jacqui implored, they all wanted to know.

"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid, ran out of juice." He pointed to the room, "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" All these powerful computers, nothing without substantial energy.

Shane jumped up, "Let me tell you somethin'-" Rick pulled him back, "To hell with this Shane, I don't even care. Lori, grab our things, everybody get your stuff, we're gettin' out of here. Now!"

They all started to turn around and head to the rooms, Laura stood still and watched. A blaring alarm went off and everyone stopped dead.

"What is that?"

"Thirty minutes until decontamination." Vi announced, the large screen displayed the count down timer now too. Jenner dodged off, typing on something she couldn't see.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick, go on get your stuff now! Go now!" Shane urged them away and T-Dog began leading them out of the room. "Come on, let's go!"

A loud sound took their attention away from their tasks and Laura understood it as gears moving, big ones. All the doors slammed shut, blast doors so think that running all their cars into them at full speed wouldn't even scratch them. Her blood ran cold, _He trapped us._

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn looked to Jenner. "He just locked us in!"

Laura climbed up to the platform and was watching Jenner put in his last log. She sighed, _his last recording._

"You son of a bitch, you locked us in here!" Daryl came around the computers, "Shane!" Rick was too far, but Shane was able to grab Daryl before he hurt Jenner and T-Dog got in between a bottle of whiskey and Jenner's head.

Rick came around, "Jenner, open that door now."

"There's no point, topside is locked down. All the emergency exits are sealed." He pulled his chair back up to the desk and arranged his coat.

"Well, open the damn things!" Dale exclaimed, "That's not something I control, the computers do. I told you, once that front door closed it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that."

_Heard you? Yes. Thought it meant being locked in while a timer counts down to our deaths? Not exactly what I had in mind._ Laura shook her head, hands on her hips. Jenner locked them in, but the front doors were locked too and he couldn't get to them.

"It's better this way." _Not if you knew us._ Laura growled, she knew this group was made up of survivors, people willing to go to hell and back just to make it out of the other side. _Fighters._ _  
_

"What is? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?" Rick demanded answers this time.

Shane yanked the chair back and Rick got in Jenner's face. "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?!"

"Do you know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" Jenner turned and faced Shane, "Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

Jenner looked around the room and sat back down, shaking his coat. "In the even of a catastrophic power failure, a terrorist attack for example, HIT's are deployed to prevent any organism's from getting out."

"HIT's?" Rick asked, but Jenner looked down. "Vi, define."

"HIT. High-Impulse Thermoberic explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration then any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the air between five thousand and six thousand degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired."

Laura put her head in her hands, she just wanted to be with a group, with good people, and this is what happens? She'd much prefer if this had happened to those other people she met, the men who took her deserved a slow death, but the group that was going to kill her, well, she cared much more for this group then she ever did for them.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner wasn't even paying any kind of attention to them anymore. "An end to sorrow, grief... regret." He looked to Rick, "Everything."

She wasn't aware of herself crying, she didn't want to die like this and she didn't want these people to die. They deserved so much better, granted, outside was a painful, hard, and unwelcoming life, but it was a life and they all wanted it more then death.

Laura felt a hand on her arm, she was too deep in her thoughts to be scared of someone touching her. "I'mma get you outta' here, ya' hear me?" It was Daryl, he looked pissed off but his usual demeanor was softened while he held her eyes. She nodded, "Just... be with me before the fire starts." Laura pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his midsection.

He was a little surprised, but the situation was desperate and he put an arm around her. "Ain't no need ta' be. We're bustin' outta' here." He let go of her and Laura watched him march over to the door, he was checking it, trying to see how dense and stable it was.

In his rage he threw the bottle at it, the shattered glass shot out. "Open the damn door!"

"Out of my way!" It was Shane, running at the door with an ax in hand and he swung it with all his force. The resulting sparks only managed to barely scratch the surface polish.

T-Dog had found axes and tossed the second one to Daryl, who went up to the door and put everything he had into it.

Nothing was even budging a little bit, the cries of the Sophia and Carl distracted her, they were frightened and had a reason to be. Laura looked at Jenner who was watching them try to cut down the door fruitlessly.

"You should've let well enough alone, it would've been so much easier." Jenner spoke with an unnerving calmness, he knew this was going to happen from the moment he met them.

"Easier for who?" Lori spat.

Jenner didn't take her venom to heart, "All of you. You know what's out there, a short brutal life and an agonizing death. Your sister, what was her name?" He was looking to a very lost looking Andrea. "Amy."

"Amy. You know what this does, you've seen it." Rick was near and Jenner focused on him. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"

Rick got in his face again, "I don't want _this_."

Shane had come back, exhausted. "Can't make a dent."

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner seem to find their idea of cutting through the door amusing.

Daryl, on the other hand, did not. "Well your head ain't." He raised the ax and came at Jenner. Dale was the first to cut him off, followed by Rick and T-Dog. "Whoa, whoa! Daryl! Daryl!" They were able to force the hunter back and disarm him. "Back up!"

Jenner rose to his feet, "You _do_ want this. Last night you said it was only a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead."

It went quiet, Rick looked to Lori. "What, you really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane was still panting, giving Rick a tired and incredulous look.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" The question was directed to Lori, but they all knew the answer.

"There is no hope, there never was." Jenner insisted, but Rick was a stubborn man and Laura, right now, found that the greatest thing in the world. "There's always hope, maybe it won't be you, maybe it won't be here, but somebody! Somewhere!"

"What part of _everything's gone_ do you not understand?" Andrea was huddled up on the floor, her knees drawn to her chest.

"Listen to your friend, she gets it." Laura braced her hands against the table, _Survive, fight, starve, but you're alive._ "This is what takes us down. This is... our extinction event."

"This isn't right." Carol cried, "You can't just keep us here!"

"One tiny moment, a milisecond, no pain." He tried to explain, but Carol shook her head. "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this."

"Wouldn't it be kinder to just... hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Carol and Sophia had gotten up to get away from Jenner.

The cocking of a shotgun tore their attention away from Jenner and to the very irate Shane who stormed up with his shotgun in hand. "Shane!" Rick tried to block him, but Shane was able to shove him. "Stay outta' my way Rick!"

Shane came up to him, the shotgun aimed solidly at Jenner's head. "You open that door or I'mma blow your head off. Do you hear me?!"

"Brother, brother, this is _not_ the way you do this. If you do this we will _never_ get out of here." Rick tried to talk him down, but Shane looked downright manic. "Shane, you listen to him." Lori warned.

"If he dies, we all die!" Rick enforced, Shane just yelled at the top of his lungs and aimed away from Jenner, to the computers behind him and opened fire. Everyone dropped and Rick grabbed hold of the shotgun, forcing it out of Shane's hands before knocking him to the ground.

"You done now? Are you done?" Rick growled, Shane was still panting on the floor. "Yeah, I guess we all are."

_Dammit, Carol was right. They didn't deserve this._ "Jenner." He looked at her and unfortunately so did everyone else. "In light of _recent_ discoveries, you have the _nerve_ to say that there is no hope left?"

"That doesn't matter now. There's no way to distribute, no way to help everyone." He leaned back into his chair.

Laura stepped up to him, "There is, if we go out there, we could help other survivors and I can help others who have turned. Restore families and return some kind of balance."

"You can't save everyone. Billions of people are dead, not just reanimated, but actually dead." He stood up and gestured to her. "You don't have the capability of healing even the tiniest fraction of that number. You couldn't make an effective change. Eventually, like everyone else, you would be met with a violent death and so would they."

"Jenner, you said yourself that you were here to find a cure. So here I am! I'm a cure, use me." Laura yanked down her hood. "I can help people and to those few that I do, that I can save, it will make all the difference in the world to."

"It wouldn't be enough, they'd still face what I'm trying to tell you. A painful and lonely end." Jenner stressed, but Laura shook her head. "Technically, you are dead already. Do you really want to go out there and face a world that will shun you, people who won't understand you? They'll kill you. You even said you were too afraid to tell these people, out of fear of what they might do to you."

The group was looking quite interested now, "Jenner, I'm a walker. I get that, but there are still people out there like these people, good people. They just want to survive and the more of us there is, the more we can help each other, defend one another and maybe, if we're lucky, build something out of what's left of us. I'm a cure, here I am, a ready and willing test subject, one more valuable then any other. Why won't you see that we can help make others' lives better?"

"There is nothing left, whoever is out there will not make it long. You can try to help them, but you cannot keep them safe forever." Jenner took a seat again, "All you would do is prolong the inevitable."

Laura couldn't get through to him, even with everything, but she still tried. Rick searched his group, they all wanted to live, but didn't see it happening. They were on the edge of giving up hope. "I think you're lying."

"What?"

"You're lying. About there being no hope." Jenner actually looked up from his resolve. "If that were true you would've bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out, but you didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

Jenner leaned back, "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter, it always matters." Rick approached him, pleading for a way to escape. "You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to." _That spoke volumes._ Laura blinked, Jenner stood and he was taller then Rick, it made for a very strange look. "I made a promise. To her." He pointed at the screen, "My wife."

Lori was nearly reeling from the news. "Test subject nineteen was your wife?"

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could..." Jenner held his arms out in defeat. "How could I say no?" _How can you deny the final request of a dying person?_ Laura was actually hoping Rick was onto something, but all he did was uncover the real reason Jenner was ready to die.

"She was dying. It should've been me on that table." His voice raised, he spoke with passion about his late wife. "She was a loss to the world! Hell, she ran this place I just worked here! In our field she was an _Einstein._ Me? I'm... I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've _done_ something about this, not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice." Rick was calmer with the man, learning about his deceased wife made Rick more sympathetic with the hurting man. "You do. That's all we want. A choice. A chance."

"Let us keep tryin' as long as we can." Lori begged.

Jenner saw them, really _saw_ them this time. They all wanted to survive, no matter how difficult the life they chose was. "I told you topside is locked down, I can't open those."

He went to a keypad, swiped a card and put in a code. A confirming beep and the doors opened immediately. "Come on!" Daryl called from the door, ready to run with the others.

"Let's go!" Glenn ushered the others, T-Dog and Shane were calling to people too, trying to get them out as quick as they could.

"There's your chance, take it." Laura was right behind Rick, she hadn't run with the others when she noticed Rick hadn't either. "I'm grateful."

"The day will come where you won't be." The foreboding message silenced Rick, but Jenner accepted Rick's hand and pulled him close, whispering something that Laura couldn't make out.

Lori ran back and took Rick's hand, Glenn was at the door waiting but he was getting too anxious to run. "Hey! We got four minutes left, come on!"

They hurried out, before being stopped again. "No, no! I'm staying! I'm staying, sweetie."

"That's insane!" T-Dog wanted her with them, she was such a kind woman, she took care of the group, everyone, when they needed her. "No, it's completely sane! For the first time in a long time! I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no point in arguing and no time, not if you want to get out. Just get out.: Jacqui pushed T-Dog away, patting his face before Shane took his arm.

"T-Dog, come on man. Come on." He broke T-Dog's attention. "Let's go, let's go!"

Dale came to her, but Jacqui just stepped back.

At this moment, Daryl had come back. "Damn girl, you better come on. We're outta' time!" He took her arm and moved her, she liked Jacqui, a lot, she was so kind to her even when she didn't know so much as her name.

Daryl dragged her out of the halls and when they came to the stairs again, he swung her in his arms and carried her the rest of the way.

Once on ground floor, he set her down and Shane tossed him an ax. They were all trying to break through the glass, when it was obvious the axes weren't working, T-Dog charged the glass with a chair and began beating on it with all his strength.

_No hope...?_

"Dog, get down! Get down!" T-Dog spun around to see Shane coming at the glass with his shotgun, after reloading and cocking the gun, Shane fired a single shot, but the bullets ricocheted. It was too dangerous to fire off rounds, the bullets could hurt or kill anyone unfortunate enough to be caught.

Carol rushed up, searching in her bag. "Rick, I have something that might help."

"Carol I don't think a nail file's gonna' do it." _No need to be an ass Shane._ Laura glared at the man, but what Carol pulled out of her bag was more shocking.

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform." _A fucking grenade?!_ "I found this in your pocket."

T-Dog saw it first, Rick took it and ran to the window. "Look out!"

Daryl grabbed Laura and put her under him, shielding her with his body when she heard the sound of the grenade pin click and Rick sprinting back to them. The resulting explosion knocked Rick off his feet, but once the glass shattered, everyone was up.

She was pulled up by Daryl, who kept her close to him the entire time. Lifted her up to the glass, jumped down in front of her and helped her down. They went straight for the cars, a few walkers were hanging around, but they didn't care about sound and shot them all to the ground.

Daryl opened the door and threw her in, jumping in behind her. Laura looked up for the moment she could and saw Andrea and Dale nearing a stack of sand bags and ducking behind them, before she was pushed into the seat by Daryl as the explosion shook the cars.

The sound was deafening and she held onto him for dear life, hoping that the explosion didn't reach too far.

When the tremors were done, he let her up and they both looked at the collapsed ruined of the CDC. Fires so large they could be seen for miles and a smoke stack five times the size.

Daryl got out, went around the truck and got in the driver side. They had to leave, now. No doubt all the walkers in the city heard that.

He started the truck and followed the caravan out.

The CDC was a shot in the dark, maybe it was worth it, but she wasn't sure they'd ever know.

For now, she sat in Daryl's truck and was rendered speechless. The events at the CDC were nothing like she, and the group, expected it to be. Either deserted or have the last bit of government in the country holding down fort there.

Neither of those happened, but she still thought highly of Jenner. He wasn't _bad_ or anything, but he'd given up any hopes of surviving or even wanting to, a long time ago.

She only hoped that no one in this group ever faced that level of ruin.

When she looked at Daryl, he was in deep thought, maybe about where they were going, what they'd do, but she couldn't be bothered to concern herself with that. Laura was so shocked at what had happened in such a short amount of time she actually hadn't a clue what _had_ happened just yet.

Resting her head against the window, she watched the trees go by with a lot on her mind.


	18. The Search goes On

They drove for as long as they could, to get away from the CDC explosion, the sound would've carried and attracted so many walkers that they couldn't risk being anywhere near the building, but they weren't able to get far, so low on gas.

The RV honked and the caravan pulled into a small parking lot devoid of all life, there weren't even any dead bodies in the area. It was a promising place to stop and discuss their next plan of action.

Laura sighed and stepped out of the truck, Daryl walked ahead of her as they approached the others.

Out of their cars, confused and frightened, the group stretched and enjoyed the stop. They would have to keep moving soon, the longer they waited the higher risk they were at.

They were talking, something about cars and progression. She couldn't really make anything out and wasn't about to join them to find out. Laura realized she outed herself at the CDC, but she thought they were going to die anyways and wanted to try and take a stab in the dark, to try and convince Jenner to let them continue on living.

It didn't work, but she still tried.

Laura stayed back from the group, she figured she would have to leave soon if she wanted to live, but she wanted to stay with them as long as she could. She liked this group, they meant a lot to her.

Carl was also away from the group instead of with his parents or Carol, who would often watch over him when Lori was busy. He was kicking gravel around to kill time.

Rick and Lori were having another _adult_ talk with the group and he apparently wasn't allowed to hear it for one reason or another.

Laura rested on one knee behind Carl, "Hey little man." He turned to see her, worry evident on the boy's face. "I'm sure they're just talkin' 'bout where to go."

The boy wasn't comforted and Laura pulled him to face her, "Hey now, listen here." She gave him a careful smile and stood up, ruffing Carl's hair. "Your mom and dad have a lot to deal with right now, a lot to talk about, but they're fine. You're fine. We're all goin' to find somewhere else that's safe. Okay?"

Carl grinned, "Okay."

Laura heard steps from beside them, they were urgent footfalls and she looked to see the source. It was Shane and he was storming up to her. Before Laura knew what hit her, she was knocked across the face by something particularly heavy. She fell onto her back and felt the world spin.

She opened her eyes and saw Shane turning the shotgun around in his hands, she scrambled back but the barrel of his shotgun came within inches of her face and her cocked it right there.

She stopped moving and put her hands up in defense, she heard the others call out. "Shane!"

"Shane, put the gun down!" Rick growled, but Shane looked intent on shooting her. "Put it down, now!"

"Why? Look at her, she ain't one of us man." He gestured to her face, "She even said it, she's a walker, can't keep her knowin' what she is! Remember," Shane glanced to a very pissed off looking redneck, "You said it man, zero tolerance for walkers or them to be."

"You best get that gun outta' her face before I break yours." Daryl was barely two feet from Shane, his fists clenched in rage. He wasn't going to risk Shane firing off that gun, but he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing.

"So the rules change when it's your squeeze?" Shane spat, "I don't think so. She was right here, with Carl, _alone_. Who knows what she coulda' done! I'm not puttin' him or anyone else at risk here just 'cause the redneck found himself a girlfriend."

Rick took hold of Shane's shoulder, "Brother, I knew about this already. Do you really think I would've let her stay with us if she was a danger?"

Shane seemed contemplative for a moment. "You really knew man?"

"Yes, I have known." That seemed to be it for Shane, his nose twitched and the shotgun was lowered.

T-Dog grabbed her and pulled her away, helping her get to her feet. "Thanks," She smiled to him, which he returned happily. "Just returnin' the favor girl." He brushed off the excess dirt from her, patting her back and letting her know she had his support.

That was before said pissed off redneck jumped Shane and punched him as best he could with everyone getting in between them. "Enough!" Rick exclaimed, pushing against both the men. "Laura will explain it to you _herself_. So everyone will know. Won't you, Laura?" He nodded to her, giving her a soft look. "Of course."

Rick released the two men and so did the others. Shane stalked behind Rick and Daryl came straight up to her, grabbed her chin and lifted her head, his other hand rubbing over the spot where the butt of Shane's shotgun had connected with her forehead. "I'm fine, really. Just a little bump, that's all."

"I'll kill that son of a bitch." He ground out, still inspecting the bump. "Daryl, really, it's alright. That's not as bad a reaction as I was expecting actually."

Daryl looked at her oddly, "What, him tryin' to kill ya' ain't enough?"

"I was expecting to be killed the moment I was discovered. That, what Shane did, was quite tame comparatively..." Daryl had stopped looking at where she was knocked, but he still had his hand cupped around her chin. "And what you're doin'... toleratin' me like _this_ ," She glanced down to his hand, which he withdrew quickly. "This was not what I thought was goin' to happen."

"That's a good thing, ain't it?" He chewed on his thumb again. It felt like he was asking her if she _wanted_ to be killed.

"I certainly hope so." Rick came up to them, "Laura, I think it's best to get this done as soon as we can. Are you ready?" She nodded, "Good, come on."

Laura followed Rick to the back of the Cherokee, where the trunk was pulled up and inside sat Carol, Sophia, and Carl. To the side was Lori, Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, Dale, and Andrea. Rick took a place in front of the group, beside Laura in case anyone tried anything. Daryl was just behind her, also functioning as a makeshift bodyguard.

"Go ahead, Laura, just tell them what you told me." Rick urged gently, he wanted to calm his group while keeping Laura's friendship. He felt like he was balancing on a high wire.

"Well, just before the outbreak happened, there were walkers around, stragglers. They were such a minority still that people thought they were just sick folk." Laura shrugged, "Guess they kinda' are considerin', but I got caught by one and bitten." She pulled down the shoulder of her jacket and shirt. "Soon after that, I... I died and returned as a walker."

"You died like Jim did?" Carol asked and Laura just nodded to her. "Exactly. However, my father was a scientist. He also worked for the CDC, but that was a while ago. He committed to very unorthodox procedures to find solutions and cures. He would use live test subjects, experiment on living human flesh and blood when given the chance. When I turned, he took it upon himself to use me as his test subject and conducted these experiments on me."

"A test subject like Jenner's wife?" Andrea asked, the woman leaned against the car and crossed her arms.

"Yes. After some time of being a walker, he found a way to restore _me_. I was returned to my human state, my mind was at least. I can think again, I have the ability to choose my actions and paths, unlike a walker who functions on nothing but instinct." She ran a hand across her face, "As a result, my heart beat is so low and all vitals are so low that, if any of you were to drop your heart rate to mine, you would die."

"So you're telling us that you're... dead, right?" Lori walked up to Rick, who put an arm around his shoulders. "What would happen if your heart... stopped?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'd go back to being a walker, maybe I'd just die for good, or maybe nothing would happen at all." Laura patted over her heart. "I can't know for certain and am not keen on finding out. Because of my walker-like appearance and being seemingly dead, walkers don't try to attack me, they treat me like their own."

"Do you, y'know." Glenn made a biting motion.

Laura smirked, "Eat people? No, oh God no. Humans are as appealing food wise as they are to you." She stuck her tongue out. "I don't do anything a walker does really. I mean, I will bite and scratch someone for survival if I don't have a real weapon to use, but that's normal human survival behavior."

"The way I see it." Rick stepped up, taking the explanation from Laura. "That she isn't one of them, she isn't a walker-" Shane came forward, "Rick, you can't-" The sheriff put his hand up. "I trust Laura, she's done nothing but be good to us from the moment we met. She's helped out when she can, risked her life for us even, I'm not about to throw her aside just because I may not understand how this cure works."

"Is that what it is?" Lori asked, "A cure? Did your father really make a cure?"

Laura winced, "Well, cure is a _strong_ word." She noticed the confused looks. "It doesn't get rid of the virus in the body, it's still there. I can't turn people if I bite them or anything, in fact, my blood can actually help someone who has turned. The anti-bodies in my blood stream, the ones my father created, attack and destroy all signs of the virus in the human blood."

"So if we get bit... you can cure us?" T-Dog spoke up, a little hopeful over this discovery. _  
_

"Maybe. I've never tried it so I can't say for certain what would happen. All I know it that only _after_ a person has been bitten that there could be a chance for me to help them reclaim themselves." Laura shook her head, rubbing the sore spot on her forehead courtesy of Shane. "That's all I know really, that I am a walker with her mind back, with my sanity and conscience intact. That I cannot infect people and cannot _be_ infected. There is a possibility for me to help anyone who turns, but I don't know that for certain."

"I trust her, but I need to know what everyone thinks." Rick insisted, he did really trust her, Laura showed no signs of any kind of hostility. He wouldn't lie to himself about not being a _little_ worried when she was alone with Carl, but he quickly silenced the thought the moment in crept up.

"I think it's cool." Glenn grinned, "I mean, think about it. How useful she's been so far when we were stuck in Atlanta, when we went back for the guns. She could be a scout, check out the area and we'd never have to worry about her being caught by geeks, because geeks don't go after her."

_Valid reasoning. I am useful in that respect._ Laura was happy someone pointed out her usefulness, to show that she could do things for the group, not just stick around and be dead weight.

T-Dog ran a hand over his bald head, "Way I figure it, as long as she ain't tryin' to eat us and she can do what Glenn said, then it'd be stupid to get rid of her."

"I think this is ridiculous." _Shane's turn_. Laura kept focus on the angry man. "She's a walker and we're supposed to just _trust_ her because she _hasn't_ bitten one of us. What happens when she gets hungry, huh? What do y'all think happens then? If she wasn't thinkin' about doin' nothin', then why hadn't she said anything yet?"

Laura huffed, "Oh please, when I first met Glenn and Andrea in the city, I hadn't eaten in over a month, I was beyond starving, but I didn't hurt them." Laura pointed to Rick, "When I ran into Glenn again, this time with Rick, I was _still_ hungry, but I didn't do anything. Hell, I never even considered harming them unless they tried to hurt me. Because no one did, so I joined them, went with them and it's people like _you_ are the exact reason I was too afraid to say anythin'. You just don't understand, too wrapped up in thinkin' one way that you never take time to consider that you could be _wrong_."

That silenced Shane, he looked ready to say more but whatever it was, he relented and accepted defeat. He stepped back and Laura smirked, "I may have been a walker once, but that doesn't mean those some inhibitions exist within my head. I hold no desire to, ugh, _eat_ someone. That's just... revolting. I can't imagine doing that."

"Do you remember it?" Andrea asked, "When you were a walker, do you remember?"

Laura looked down and bit her lip. "Yes, I remember it, bits anyways. It was constant pain, hunger, noise. I can't describe it better then that, but I still remember _tryin'_ to eat someone, my father, who was the only person who had contact with me while I was a walker."

Andrea sighed, "If... if you'd known this before Jenner told you, could you have... saved Amy and Jim?"

Laura's eyes snapped to Andrea's, her mouth hung open. "I..." She closed her eyes, "Yes."

The woman nodded and walked into the RV, _I could have saved Amy._ Dale went to comfort Andrea in the Winnebago. Laura felt bad about that, over them, she didn't know at the time, how could she have? If she did, she would've help them.

"That's enough for now." Rick spared her, "We need to get more gas and get back on the road, try to go as far as we can until nightfall. We also have to lose some cars..."

Laura turned away and left the group, she didn't want to be around them right now.

Daryl and T-Dog went off to siphon gas from their cars for the others. They were leaving T-Dog's church van and Daryl's truck. He wasn't riding with anyone else though, he got help from Rick and T-Dog to get the bike off the bed of the truck.

She wondered who she would ride with, if any of them would let her ride with them willingly.

When the last bit of gas they could find was siphoned and given to the other cars, they all starting piling in again and started up the cars.

They had three cars now, the Winnebago, the Cherokee, and Daryl's bike.

T-Dog, Andrea, and Shane all joined Dale and Glenn in the RV, while the Grimes family, Carol, and Sophia all rode in the Cherokee.

Laura watched them get in and set up, she hadn't a clue where she would go, if she could go. Until the bike pulled up in front of her and Daryl nodded to the seat behind him.

She grinned and got on, she'd never been on a motorcycle before and didn't really know much about riding one. She found where her feet went and knew she had to hold onto him for support, so she wrapped her arms halfway around him, her touch made him tense up a bit, but he quickly relaxed.

They hit the road again, Daryl and Laura were in lead, the Winnebago behind them, and the Cherokee in the back. On their way to Fort Benning. It was going to be a long drive, but she wasn't complaining.

Laura gave a snarky grin to the man in front of her, he couldn't see it though. She liked having an excuse to have her arms around Daryl.

They finally had left the city and Laura was all too happy to watch it go, she felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, one she didn't even know she was carrying. All those people, Red's group of survivors, the men who took her, her father, all in that city, all behind her.

She pulled her arms around Daryl completely, holding onto his shirt and jacket, while resting her head on his back. It was relaxing, like that hot shower at the CDC, it felt so good and refreshing to be away from all that pain and suffering. She still felt it, of course, in her head and the bruises had definitely not healed yet, she still could feel them being pressed on by the bike, but it wasn't unpleasant, just a reminder.

Once in the country side, Laura was smiling without realizing it. The trees, the open road, the tall grass; it felt so surreal. She waited for so long to experience life and it took a zombie apocalypse to get her out of the city.

She loved Atlanta, once, but it wasn't what she remembered it to be and the old wounds were too fresh for her liking. She wanted to make new memories elsewhere, hopefully better ones.

It wasn't until they began to slow down that Laura was brought out of her own thoughts long enough to see what was going on.

There were cars everywhere and an eighteen wheeler had tipped up ahead. Daryl drove slowly, carefully through the cars before turning around and heading back to the others.

The Winnebago and Cherokee had stopped, Daryl pulled up to the driver side of the RV where Dale was. "See a way through?"

Daryl looked back to the cars and nodded for Dale to follow him. He drove around the RV and came back up to lead them through as best he could. Laura wasn't even sure they could get the RV through all those cars.

They took it slow and Daryl found the best path through, it was barely enough to fit the Winnebago but it was working so far.

Until a very shrill sound came from behind them. Laura turned around and saw white smoke from the front of the RV. It stopped and turned off, the Cherokee not far behind.

Daryl parked the bike and they both got off, she was very soon missing the feel of holding onto him, but put it aside.

"I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times, dead in the water?" Everyone got out of the cars and was watching as Dale opened the front of the RV. "Problem Dale?" _No, he just likes to make the RV spew smoke because he can._ Laura rolled her eyes.

"Oh, just this small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of..." Dale looked around for a moment, Daryl was already scouring through cars. "Okay, that was dumb."

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane was looking at the multitudes of cars.

"A whole buncha' stuff we could find." Daryl was pulling items and clothes out of a car already. "Siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog couldn't count how many cars there were, they'd get enough gas for the entire trip to Fort Benning if they were careful.

"Maybe we could find some water." Carol suggested, "Food." Glenn grinned.

"This is a graveyard." Lori commented, but all Laura saw was supplies just waiting to be picked clean. "I don't know how I feel about this."

T-Dog went straight to get what he needed to siphon. "Come on y'all, take a look around, gather what ya' can." Shane suggested, he went off to find his own cars to loot.

Laura got to it, digging around in a few cars warranted clothes and a few bottles of water.

She could see everyone scavenging, even Lori who was hesitant at first was finally getting into it. There wasn't much more then a few suitcases of clothes, some people kept toiletries that Laura went ahead and took, vanity mostly, but she wanted them. Luckily, one of her first pulls from a car near the RV was a large bag capable of carrying a good deal of supplies.

Stuffing desirables into the pack, she continued on taking what she could find. The moment she found a bottle of water, she made a little disappointed note that it was warm water, but it was still water and started to chug it down, feeling her thirst quenched was extremely satisfying.

Aside from her adventures in looting, Laura made sure to keep an eye on Shane. She wasn't suicidal and kept her distance from the man.

She managed to stray a good distance from the group without realizing it, she couldn't hear them digging in cars anymore, she couldn't hear very much while she was excitedly making her way through a car.

It wasn't until she had leaned into the car window and was bumped repeatedly by something obviously human behind her.

Laura squirmed to get out of the car window, bringing an eight pack of double A batteries with her. "Hey, what's the big-?" Laura froze, it wasn't some _one_ behind her, it was a very large number of undead.

She looked around, she could barely see the top of the RV from where she was at. It was a horde, she'd never been out of the city and didn't know how common they were out here, but it was a decent sized one. She couldn't see anybody, not even hear them.

"Hey guys?" Laura started shifting through the horde, pushing them away as she made her way back to the Winnebago. "Anybody?"

There were no screams, no cries for help and there hadn't been, so she assumed that they were alive. Perhaps they were in the RV? When Laura got to the RV all she saw was a walker inside just messing around and staring at the counters.

Laura stepped out and headed to where Shane found the water with Glenn. The water was dripping still and there was no blood in the area, they couldn't have gotten grabbed and eaten. She would've heard that and there would be a frenzy... Right?"

"Oh come on..." She was scared now, terrified even. They just escaped the CDC for this horde to show up and now they're no where in sight. She was panicking quite a bit.

She put a hand on her forehead, if they weren't dead or bitten, then what would they do to avoid the undead horde?

Hide in cars?

Laura started checking cars, searching for anything that might suggest life and yet, after a dozen cars she hadn't found a single person. It wasn't until she neared the Winnebago again that she found something.

A hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, she looked down and saw a distinctly human hand.

The walkers around her didn't notice and kept walking on, she slid against the car until she was sitting down next to it, her back resting against the side. She leaned down and saw Rick hiding underneath the car, he put a finger to his lips, telling her to shush. She looked around, there was Carl, Sophia, and a car down was Lori and Carol.

Over back on the hill she could see Shane and Glenn underneath the truck she was just at.

They were alive. Laura let out a deep breath and sat up again. "Thought you were dead." She stood up, calmer and far happier knowing that they were alive. She couldn't see T-Dog or Daryl, but if the others were safe, she knew those two could definitely survive.

It didn't stop her from worrying.

Laura stayed in between the cars, trying to usher the undead passed as quick as they could. So far they seemed to just go along with it and moved a little fast as her urges worked. The horde was thinning out after a few minutes.

She went to check on Lori and Carol, she got down and gave them a thumbs up, trying to console them. She went to Carl and smiled at the kid, but when she did the same to Sophia, she was too scared to notice.

Continuing, she went to check on Shane and Glenn, make sure they were alright. Two walkers were passing their truck now and she shoved one out of the way while she got down on the ground and came face to face with a rather hard to read Shane.

"You guys alright down here?" Glenn looked at her and nodded furiously, Shane just glared at her and Laura took the hint. Time to go find Daryl and T-Dog.

_What did you do now?_ Laura sighed, whatever Daryl was up to she assumed it wasn't good. He had a habit of getting in bad places or the wrong people's nerves. All she could do was worry about him and if he was okay. Did he survive the walkers? Was he hurt? Dying? Where was he?

As Laura crossed the street again, a scream reached her ears.

She turned around to see two walkers chasing something small enough to not be seen above the cars. It had to have been Sophia, the high pitched cry told her that much.

Laura jumped into action and ran after the walkers who were heading into the trees, chasing Sophia who she had barely gotten a look at. She could see Rick ahead of her, he'd done the same thing only he saw it first and reacted faster.

He cut his way through the woods and Laura tried to follow him, but they were all too far from her and she was horrible at directions. If she went out there and found Sophia, the best she could do is _maybe, possibly_ get lost in the general direction of the highway the group was on.

She wasn't very useful here.

Still, she tried to find them and, when faced with a dead end, Laura kept trying. She wasn't going to condemn a child to being turned like that, Laura could restore her mind, but she'd prefer Sophia to just be alive and human for a while longer.

In her haste, Laura stopped paying attention to her footing and toppled over a few foot drop into a creek. She slammed into the water, submerging her entire body in the shallow water.

Shooting upright, Laura looked around for signs of Rick or Sophia and was met with a dead end. She couldn't track, she had no skill in that area.

She got up, her entire body soaking wet now. It was a good thing she just got new clothes. The weight of the water on her was shocking to her system, she wasn't used to it and ended up tripping over herself.

Grasping onto the roots of a tree, she pulled herself to them and laid back on them, more then half her body still submerged as she looked around. She couldn't hear anything anymore, no Sophia. No Rick. Just dead quiet.

"Shiiiiiit. I am so fuckin' lost." Laura groaned, she needed to take more lessons from Daryl, otherwise, this could happen a lot more. If, of course, that is she ever managed to find her way back to the highway.

She rested in the water, the cool though murky water was soothing on her aching joints. Her leg was still hurting, but she'd gotten so used to it that she didn't care much anymore, but the water, feeling it gently wash over her and her injuries... It was the best feeling she'd ever had since she was infected.

Laura didn't know how much time passed before she heard the sound of footsteps. It must have been nearly an hour. If it was walkers, then they wouldn't bother her and she didn't care about them. She didn't think the others could find her out here.

Another one of these moments where she was wrong and happy about it.

"Laura!" That was Rick's voice, but she heard more then just his feet. There were others with him and when she opened her eyes, she saw Rick, Shane, Daryl and Glenn all trying to find a safe way down the bank to reach her.

Daryl didn't care about safest path and vaulted from the edge, splashing loudly into the water. He came up beside her and she sat upright. "Hey, you alright?" He held her chin again, moving her head around to look for head injuries.

"I'm fine, just met a very unwelcoming fall when I ran over that edge there." She pointed to the one Daryl jumped off of, "Tryin' to find Rick and Sophia, ended up gettin' lost." She smiled, Daryl stood and offered her a hand up.

Laura still felt the weight of the water on her clothes dragging her down. She was soaked. "Where's Sophia?" Rick asked, looking behind Laura.

"I don't know, went after her when she bolted, but y'all were way ahead of me. I can run fast, but I hadn't joined the chase 'til pretty late on." She shrugged and started ringing out her clothes and hair. "I was hopin' you got to her."

"I did, I left her right there." He pointed into the little nook under the eroded tree roots.

Laura looked at the roots and back. "I... I'm sorry Rick, when I got here, there wasn't anythin' here. Certainly no Sophia."

Shane stormed up from behind Rick, "Bullshit. I bet you took her off somewhere, didn't you?" Laura's eyes went wide, _Is he suggesting...?_ "Had yourself a good meal, didn't you? I bet you were _real_ hungry." Shane's killed glare made her extremely uncomfortable and the accusation made her reel back.

Daryl pointed at Shane, "Hey, shut the fuck up!"

"That's disgustin'!" Laura sneered, Rick just shouldered Shane off. "Shane, that's enough!" Even Rick got a little angry with the man, but Shane backed off and left well enough alone. "I would never do that! That's- That's just... Ugh!"

Laura threw her arms in the air and turned away from them. The idea of her dragging Sophia away and... _eating_ her? Laura couldn't imagine it, it was horrific. She'd never commit to something so despicable.

"Laura, I'm sorry about Shane, but we don't have time for this. It's already gettin' late and we need to find Sophia." Rick stressed and Laura spun back around to them. "Yeah, absolutely. Do we have any idea where she could be?"

"That's why I brought Daryl out here, I was hoping he could track her, see which way she went." Rick turned to face Daryl who returned to his work, looking through the eroded tree roots.

"You sure this is the spot?" Daryl seemed like he couldn't see anything over there, but then again, it was all mud and the water was disturbed quite often, whatever trail of Sophia was under there, it could've easily been washed away.

"I left her right here." Rick pointed along the creek. "I drew the walkers off in that direction, up the creek."

Laura went up to the bank, she wasn't listening into them anymore, just trying to hear something, anything that could suggest she was nearby. Another walker even.

She couldn't make anything out aside from birds and crickets. Laura looked up to see Glenn standing a little ahead of her with a shotgun. He tried to give her a smile, but it came out half hearted. They were all worried sick about Sophia.

They just stood there before Daryl appeared to her left. "Hey short round, why don't ya' step off to one side, you're muckin' up the trail."

"Assumin' she knows her left from her right." Shane looked to Daryl and Glenn. "Shane, she understood me fine." Laura had to agree, children well younger then that could do more then just remember Rick's instructions. "Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her close call with two walkers, gotta' wonder how much of what ya' said stuck."

_Also a valid point_. Laura hated it when Shane had a point. Granted, she actually liked Shane before all this, talking about hope and how fleeting it was, but how much was restored when she and Rick walked into camp that day. He was a good guy, but he was like Red and the others, they just didn't understand.

"Clear prints right here, she did like you said, headed back to the highway." Daryl took Shane's hand and he lifted the hunter up the bank. "Let's spread out." Shane held his hand out for Rick who was looking around the creek.

"She couldn't have gotten far." Rick grabbed Shane's hand and ran up the bank. "Hey, we're gonna' find her. She's gonna' be tuckered out, hidin' in a bush somewhere."

Laura turned to get up the bank, but Shane completely ignored her. With an annoyed groan, she tried to find her footing, before a hand appeared in front of her. _Who else could it be?_ She smiled and looked up, sure enough, there was Daryl. She took his hand and he pulled her up carefully. "Thanks." He lead her to the others who were waiting for them. "No problem."

Daryl took point and she followed close behind Glenn. They were all relying on the hunter's skills to find Sophia, even if it was a lot to put on the man.

They cut through some bushes before Daryl slowed down and came to a halt, kneeling on the ground looking intently at the trail. "She was doin' fine 'til right here. All she had to do was keep goin'. Veered off that way." He pointed to their right.

"Why would she do that?" Glenn stared off in the direction Daryl told them she left in, they all were, as if she'd pop out of the bushes.

"Maybe she saw somethin' that spooked her?" Shane looked back to Daryl, but Glenn took the word out of everyone's head. "Walker?"

"I don't see any other footprints, just hers."

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane fiddled with his shotgun, clearly disturbed by this news.

"No, better if you and Glenn head back to the highway. People are gonna' start panicking." _Yeah, like I am now._ Laura was still ringing out her clothing. "Let 'em know that we're on her trail doin' everything we can, but most of all, keep everybody calm."

"I'll keep 'em busy scavengin' cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied." Shane waved Glenn along. "Come on."

When they were gone, the three of them pressed on. Rick and Laura followed Daryl through the woods, but she could see that Rick had a little knowledge of tracking because he had taken the lead a few times even though Daryl did most of the tracking.

After a little while, Laura felt the need to speak up. "Thanks, for not sendin' me back with Shane and Glenn."

"I didn't think it wise to leave you alone with Shane." Rick answered, they both had the same idea when he was telling Shane to head back to the highway. "Yeah, the only two people who can actually overpower Shane away tracking while the person he hates the most is alone with him. I could have ten guns on me and he have his hands tied behind his back, but that man could easily beat me."

"Which is why you're with us instead of with him." Rick offered a tired smile, "I'm not going to let Shane do somethin' he will regret later. Killing you? He'd hate himself for it even if he thinks it's right."

"Probably, people aren't normally equipped to deal with doing things like that and moving passed it like nothing happened. Drives people crazy." Laura sighed, "For what it's worth, I'm glad to be here, with y'all. Not just _here_ , I mean with the group. I like being with people who aren't tryin' to kill me. New experience for me." She chuckled darkly. "Thanks for lettin' me tag along."

"You're a survivor, just like us." Rick looked at her face, her strange eyes and almost morbid tint. "No matter what happened before, no matter who you came across before us; we're not like them."

Laura smiled this time. "No, y'all are a thousand times better."

All Rick knew what the bruises on her and what they meant, he didn't know about Red, Micheal, and the others. She wasn't to sure she wanted to tell him, but she felt she had to thank him and better late then never.

Following Daryl through the woods was strange, the tracks went on for sometime until she slowed to a stop.

"Tracks are gone." Rick stood beside him, they were both looking in between these two large trees.

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone." Daryl kept low to the ground, looking harder for these faint tracks. He pointed to what looked like just forest floor to Laura, "She came through here."

"How can you tell?" Rick looked around blankly, he couldn't see anything indicating the direction Sophia went in. "I don't see anything, dirt, grass."

"You want a lesson in trackin' or do you wanna' find that girl and get our asses off that interstate." Daryl lead them from here on out, Rick wasn't as experienced with tracking as Daryl.

They moved slow now, it was harder for Daryl to even find Sophia's tracks.

Eventually, they were moving along fine and a loud crack rang out, Daryl and Rick got down, but Laura felt like a sore thumb by remaining standing. They stayed still, crouching, as they listened for more.

Rick pointed ahead and lead Daryl and Laura into the trees in the direction of the sounds. There was a small hill ahead of them and down below was a single walker stumbling loudly through the woods.

Daryl gave the order this time, gesturing for Rick to go ahead of the walker and Daryl would come up behind it. They both got to it and Laura stayed behind, not wanting to get in the way.

Rick ran in front of the walker's path, when it noticed him it stopped and growled at Rick who let out a loud whistle. An arrow pierced the walkers skull and it fell limply to the ground.

Laura came up and join them then right as Daryl removed the arrow from its skull. Daryl looked around, "Sophia!" He was met with the same sound of crickets, birds, and frogs that had been there the whole time.

Rick kneeled down next to the walker corpse and pulled out a cloth and took hold of the walkers' hand. Both Daryl and Laura were watching in interest.

"What're ya' lookin' for?" Daryl asked as Rick worked, "Skin, under the fingernails." Rick flipped the body over.

Laura shook her head and looked at her own nails. Since getting washed up at the CDC, they probably looked better then they had been before, but she never checked. They were long and very strong, capable of tearing into someone quite easily she imagined.

_That's not something I'm going to find out anytime soon_. She frowned, she could remember clawing at her father, but she never took the time to find out how well her claw-like nails had worked. Laura honestly didn't want to have to use them as weapons, it would only bring her one step closer to being a walker. It wouldn't take much more and Shane would be right.

"It fed recently." Rick opened the walkers mouth, "There's flesh caught in its teeth." He was sickened at the idea of what that flesh might be as he pulled it out.

"Yeah, what kinda' flesh?" They were both looking at it, trying to make it out.

Rick flicked it away, "Only one way to know for sure." He pulled out his knife, and tore the walker's clothes open, flipping out the blade from the knife handle.

Daryl stepped over the corpse. "Here, I'll do it. How many kills you've skinned and gutted in your life and anyway," He pulled out his large hunting knife, it dwarfed Rick's blade. "Mine's sharper."

Leaning over the corpse, Daryl forced the knife into the stomach of the walker and cut down. This was another part that Laura found no consideration towards, she cared not for it, but it didn't matter either way to her.

He cut it open and both he and Rick shared the same tight lipped sneer as the smell wafted around them.

"Here comes the bad part." Daryl set the knife down and went straight into the next step, finding the stomach.

He dug around and found other organs, which ever ones got in his way he would remove and continue on. He knew where the stomach was, all he had to do was get to it. He tore apart tendons and everything that was between him and the stomach, Laura heard Rick groaning in disgust, trying his hardest not to vomit.

Daryl reached in deep and nodded to Rick, "Yeah, hoss had a big meal not long ago. I feel it in there." Laura's eye quirked, that was a strange thing to know how to feel for. "There's the gut bag." Daryl dropped it on the ground in front of Rick.

"I got this." Rick backed up a little to get a better angle, he cut open the stomach and dug out some of the contents in question on his knife. It was too chewed up to tell what it was before though.

Daryl pulled out a bone on his knife, "This bastard went and had himself a woodchuck for lunch." He tossed the piece of skull away.

Rick was finally able to relax, but the smell was horrendous. "At least we know." Daryl got up and pulled his crossbow back up on his shoulder, "At least we know."

"Should be gettin' back, 'bout to get dark soon." Daryl looked up to the sky, "Try again tomorrow."

Rick nodded, "Can't track in the dark. Let's head back."

Laura followed them along quietly, the sun was starting to set. She stayed close, she hadn't a clue how to navigate the woods, something she really felt like she should know especially in this situation. Perhaps Daryl would take her out for another hunt.

She shook herself off, Sophia was out there, somewhere, but Laura wasn't even thinking about how scared the little girl must be. She hadn't considered how terrified she was, the danger she faced. Laura couldn't relate, all these people could, the fear of being in this merciless world, but Laura never knew what it meant to truly be afraid of this world.

Nothing was scarier to her then people. They would hurt her, they would kill her, but not the walkers. It was alien to think of the mindless animalistic undead hordes as her allies rather then the humans that she stood with.

_Poor Sophia._ Laura ran a hand through her hair. _She must be so alone and scared out there with no one to look out for her._ That was something she was familiar with though, something she could say she understood. Being alone, feeling helpless against the world around her. Before walkers were even a thought in someones' head, Laura had been born into a family that didn't want her by a mother that abandoned her with a father that would rather she have disappeared.

_Being alone is something to fear._ She hoped they could find Sophia, Laura didn't know much about the girl, if her life before this was filled with swings and coloring books, or if it was just as frightening as the apocalyptic world around them now, but Laura didn't want anyone to face the crippling fear of being _alone_. Not someone so young too.

They made it out of the treeline and the highway was in view.

Laura tried to dig her feet into the dirt to climb the hill, but often ended up slipping because of her brace. Daryl offered his hand to steady her and she readily accepted, instantly getting her ground while her other hand came out to grab hold on his arm.

When they approached the highway railing, there was Carol wracked with worry. "You didn't find her."

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again first light." Rick climbed over the rail. Daryl and Laura stopped just on the other side of it.

"You can't just leave her out there on her own, to spend the night alone in the woods." Carol's voice was cracking, she was about to break down into tears.

"Huntin' in the dark's no good. We'd just be trippin' over ourselves." Daryl tried to reason, but Carol was on the verge of panicking. "More people would end up gettin' lost."

"But she's twelve, she can't be out there on her own!" Carol cried out quietly, "You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard, but I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Lori put an arm around Carol's shoulders, trying to calm the woman. "And we tracked her for a while." Daryl was even showing more emotion then he had done before, at least, that Laura had ever seen.

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better then anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick looked at Carol with such guilt and sympathy, but Carol was looking at Daryl's pant legs.

"Is that... Is that blood?" Daryl looked down, he'd forgotten about it and it only served to worry Carol more.

"We took down a walker." Rick explained, but it only made things worse. Carol sat on the railing, trying to catch her breath. "There was no sign it was anywhere near Sophia."

"How can you know that?" Andrea was doubtful.

Rick and Daryl shared a look, "Cut the sum'bitch open. Made sure."

Carol was trying to take deep breaths now, trying desperately to calm her nerves. Lori sat next to her, but was at a loss for words. "How could you just... leave her out there to begin with. How could you just leave her?"

She was in such pain that made Laura step back and hide behind Daryl, "Those two walkers were on us, I-I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Shane was at Rick's side, "Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol."

"How's she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child." Carol cried as Rick kneeled down in front of her, "She's just a child."

"It was my only option," Rick reasoned, "The only choice I could make." Shane leaned on the rail, he rested a hand on Rick's shoulder. "I'm sure nobody doubts that."

Carol was a mother experiencing pain Laura couldn't imagine and didn't want to. "My little girl got left in the woods..." Lori wrapped her arms around Carol and held her close.

Laura clung to Daryl for dear life, she wasn't about to let go. She was more terrified of the pain radiating off Carol then she ever was of being bitten or shot by survivors. She never had a mother, she didn't know what to do or how she should act and instead of trying to comfort the woman, she resorted to a child-like state and used Daryl as her shield.

He lead her away, both of them stepping over the rail and making their way back to Daryl's bike. He grabbed a few things and checked around, there was a very, very large pickup that had its' bed a few feet off the ground. It would work against the undead for the night.

Daryl tossed the blankets in, it was thankfully rather close to the other cars and had a clear view of the area around them.

"Ya need sleep." He popped open the truck bed. She just shook her head, "Part of being one of the undead, Daryl. I never sleep." She ran her hand absently along the edge of the truck.

He nodded, "I need sleep." He stepped into the truck and Laura didn't want to be anywhere without her shield. So she got in and he shut the back of the truck. He laid down on the quilts, one of them covering him from the cold night.

Laura glanced around nervously and scooted down, he watched her carefully, like the wrong move would set her off. She just slinked into the makeshift sleeping area with him.

"Thought ya' didn't sleep." They were facing each other. He had his eyes closed though.

"Don't want to be alone." She moved closer to him, her usually cold body feeding off his warmth. He cracked an eye open when she finally reached his side. It wasn't awkward, but it was new and strange to them both, neither really knew how to deal with it.

So Daryl put his arm under her head to use as a pillow as he laid on his back while she put her arm around him, his other arm came up over hers and held her arm in place. "Never had a mother. Don't know what to do with one."

He was looking at her now, "Abandoned me and my father when I was four. After a few years spent alone with my father, I sometimes wished she'd come home and take me away to a better place. I mean, my father wasn't _that_ bad, but he... he wasn't a good dad. I would get in the way of his work sometimes and he'd lock me up, somewhere, in the house to keep me away and wouldn't allow me food. Sometimes for days. When I got particularly annoyin', he would smack me around."

Daryl's grip on her forearm tightened, but not uncomfortably so and he grew tense. "He would whip me with a belt sometimes, like a parent would spank an unruly child, but the way he did it, the force he'd do it with... I don't know, some days I think he'd just call it a spankin' so that when I went to school no one would ask questions. Of course, I never said anythin', so I guess it was a little bit of my fault."

"Ain't your fault." Daryl growled, she could tell it wasn't directed at her though. "Bastard shouldn't have laid hands on ya' like that."

"It got worse over time though, he got older and things kept getting worse." She huffed, "When I finally moved out, I didn't know how to handle myself around people. So I just shunned them and they shunned me back. When I got bit..." Laura noted Daryl set his jaw at that. "I thought, ' _This is it, this is how I die._ ' I was ready for it though, you only saw Jim for a few minutes when we left him on the tree. You don't know what it feels like. It hurts so bad I can't describe it." _  
_

"Don't need to." His hand was gentler with her arm now.

"Yeah, when I finally felt my life just startin' to... slip away. It felt like such a relief, I felt so happy that I could finally die and not have to deal with the pain anymore." Her eyes rolled shut, "Then I woke up, two months later, strapped to a table a metal bar kept my head down. There was my father, he had brought me back from the dead. I didn't remember much then, I couldn't even remember how to read. Over time, I got everything back, my brain startin' workin' again. All I could feel was _pain._ I was suffering, I was _starvin'_."

"Like a walker?" He questioned, this was after all what he had been asking about earlier when he tried to bring up her appearance in the woods or her glowing eyes at the CDC.

"It lasted a long while, but then it was just plain hunger. Like a normal person hunger... The tests, the experiments... I couldn't take it. It was just _more pain_. I felt like someone was playin' a cruel joke on me. Every time I turned a new leaf, it always got worse." She patted her stomach with her free hand, "All I could think about was gettin' outta' there. After days, I don't know how long, I did. The house was overrun and we both ran for it. We rode together for a little while, then he told me what he was goin' to do with me. I couldn't... I wouldn't go back an' face that again. So I fought him off and discovered that walkers don't much care for me. He escaped them and I escaped _with_ them."

Daryl looked at her straight, "Ain't nothin' goin' to happen to you again. Ya hear me?" She nodded. "No one should lay hands on their daughter like that, ever an' I ain't about to let it happen again. If he's out there, he ain't gettin' his hands on you."

She smiled, "That actually makes me feel better." He huffed, "It should, was meant to."

Laura chuckled, "When did you get so... nice?"

He looked at her strangely, "I ain't _nice_." She shook her head, "Well, you're bein' _nice_. You seemed to have tolerated me better then anyone else from early on. When we went huntin' you were _nice_ then too, tellin' me you wouldn't say nothin'. At the CDC you were..." She grinned, drunk Daryl made the most humorous slip ups, "You were _different nice._ You've always been nice to me an' I don't know why."

"What the hell is _different nice_?" He pursued, his brow furrowed. There was a possibility that he didn't remember, he was drunk after all.

Laura chose to drag this one out, "Well, after dinner and my shower, you came into my room..." He was expertly focused now. "And I sat you on the couch because you were _so_ drunk." He was urging her to continue just by that burning look in his eyes. "And you told me..." His fingers were twitching on her arm. "You said you thought I was pretty."

Daryl didn't think too much about that, drunk stupor, that's all.

"Then," He inwardly groaned, there was _more_. "When I asked you why you told me that. You said you liked me."

He swore he could hear a pin drop from miles away at this point. Laura just stared back at him, the two of them didn't say a word and Laura wanted him to speak first anyways. On this, she wanted more answers.

She liked Daryl, a good deal. He was very considerate and would kill anyone who told him that, but when it came to Laura... She knew he acted different, like he was more accepting of her presence. Like right now, would Daryl let anyone else scoot up to him like this? He'd probably stab them and yet here she was, her arm around him, using his for a pillow.

He drew in a deep breath and blinked, she could see him clearly. It was getting dark out but she could see him like it was midday. "Girl, I _do_ like ya'."

"I figured that part out." She smiled, Laura wanted to hear him say it, or something anyways.

Daryl looked at her weirdly. "I do like ya'. Did... anythin'..." He cleared his throat, "Happen?"

She shook her head and that deep breath came right back out. "Why? Worried I might bite you?" She was actually worried, she still looked like a walker... Perhaps that put him off? _Of course it would._ Laura almost smacked herself, he was probably worried she'd eat him or something equally walker-esque.

He was looking at her dead on, he could just barely make out her worried face in what was left of the light. Frozen solid, he glanced between her and her arm around him.

In a swift motion, he had leaned forward and their lips met. She was surprised at first, but he wasn't the kind to beat around the bush, he just needed a hint in the right direction and he took it.

Laura was still at first and he was beginning to think she didn't like it, but she reacted right after her head screwed itself back on straight and she kissed him back, the arm that was wrapped around him now held his neck. His hand rested on the back of her head, pulling her in closer.

The kiss was calm, but not because they were. It was a moment for them both to hold themselves back and respecting the other, while still making their feelings known. Laura admittedly was new and hadn't the faintest how to progress at this part.

Eventually, they broke off. He smirked, "No bites."

She was smiling wildly, "Told you so." He leaned back again, he was tired and she felt a little bad for keeping him up, but she couldn't feel sorry over the fact that they had just kissed.

_He likes me... Like that?_ Laura couldn't stop grinning like a monkey, Micheal was nice and she had liked him a little, but he was still scared about her walker past. Daryl knew and he _still_ kissed her.

She couldn't believe it.

All it took was the zombie apocalypse for her to get a man.


	19. More Bad News Guys

They got up early as they could. Daryl gotten up first and Laura was still awake. She wished she could close her eyes and sleep again, she figured it would probably feel better then laying up all night.

Then again, she was with Daryl all night and felt more comfortable then she had in a long while. Laura was never one to act like she didn't like him just to make things easier or to see if what she was experiencing wasn't just infatuation. She jumped head first and found herself liking it so far, she guessed that it wouldn't be too long before she would have to really see how she felt about him.

For the moment, they had more important things to do.

Laura was sitting on the edge of the truck when people began waking up. When it was bright enough, they began planning out their search party.

Rick came out with some kind of roll that Laura didn't know what it was or where it came from. Jumping off the truck, she joined the group preparing for the search for Sophia.

The plastic roll Rick had was now opened on the hood of a car, it carried all sorts of blades and tools, all effective for cutting down walkers. "Everybody takes a weapon." There were plenty to go around too.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea remarked, she wanted a gun. _Didn't she have a gun?_ Laura hadn't checked on the group lately, to see how they were doing. Maybe Andrea lost hers...?

"We've been over that. Daryl, Rick, and I are carryin'." Shane answered from the side of the RV. "Can't have people poppin' off rounds every time a tree rustles."

Andrea huffed, "It's not the trees I'm worried about."

"Say somebody fires at the moment, say a herd happens to be passin' by; see that is game over for all of us." Shane seemed a little annoyed at Andrea. "So you need to get over it."

"The idea is to take the creek up 'bout five miles, turn around and come back down the other side." Daryl pointed off in the direction of the creek, "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep space between you, but always stay within sight of each other." Rick instructed and Laura turned around to follow Daryl, everyone seemed okay with her walker history, but she wasn't about to leave one of the two people who were actually accepting of her.

He stopped a few feet from the group and checked his gear, arrows, the gun he had on him, ammo, all the while Laura was becoming more and more aware of a little event nearby.

Everybody heard it, Andrea wanted her gun back but Dale refused.

Since Andrea's _choice_ back at the CDC, Laura wasn't sure what to think of the woman who always seemed so strong to her. Andrea had chosen to die and Laura didn't know why she had left the CDC to live until she heard her speaking to Dale.

From what she could make out, Dale had stayed to convince her to leave with them, to survive. He did so by staying with her until the clock ran out, but Andrea didn't want Dale to die because he didn't actually _want_ to die.

So she left the CDC with Dale and survived, but she didn't want to be there. She wanted to die peacefully not, as she put it, _being torn apart by drooling freaks_. Laura could understand that, but she didn't understand the world as a _horrific nightmare_. She just couldn't relate and felt guilty being the only one who wasn't living in constant fear of being eaten alive.

Andrea stormed away from Dale who was speechless by the end of her chastising him.

They all left afterwards, Daryl lead, Rick behind him, and Laura right behind Rick. They walked in a line, everyone kept an eye out to the trees for Sophia, trying to see something, anything that might suggest the girl was around.

Following the creek was easy, the woods weren't too hard to see through, but after a few minutes of walking, the line began to slow down.

Laura saw Daryl get down, immediately she thought there was a walker. Rick turned around and gestured for everyone to stay back. Shane came up behind them and looked down the trees.

It was a tent with a small camp site around it, but there weren't any signs of movement. "She could be in there." Shane suggested.

"Could be a whole buncha' things in there." Daryl approached cautiously, ready for walkers. Rick and Shane followed him, Laura stayed behind to try and calm people, make sure none of them went after the three men.

Laura was concerned Carol would just go after them, thinking her daughter was inside that tent, but she kept herself back, just watching closely as Daryl walked to the tent with his knife in hand.

At first, they could barely see what was going on, the trees blocked their view of Daryl and the tent.

Then Rick turned around to see them, "Carol." He waved her over and she rushed to meet him. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours in the first voice she should hear." _Yeah, she'd probably run from any other voices._ Laura thought, the group came forward a little to see what was happening.

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" She called out quietly, "Sophia it's mommy. Sophia, we're all here baby. It's mommy." Her voice was cracking, without any reply from the tent, they all assumed the little girl wasn't in there, but there was a little hope.

Rick and Shane approached now, guns at the ready as Daryl slowly unzipped the tent. Laura bit her lip, if there was a walker in there, close quarters like that was more likely to get someone killed then out in the open. She should be the one investigating, but he was already going in by the time she thought about offering her services again.

Rick neared the tent flap and opened it, trying to look in only to recoil. He and Shane were both coughing, there must be something rancid in there for them to both choke on air like that.

The two men coughing like that worried the others, Lori took Carol by the shoulders and held close.

"Daryl?" Carol called out, they couldn't hear anything from inside and were all a little worried. "Daryl?" Carol tried again, stepping forward this time. Laura knew that if there was a walker, they'd hear it and Daryl wouldn't die so easily.

The tent flap pulled open and Daryl stepped out. "Ain't her."

"What's in there?" Andrea spoke up, Daryl grabbed his crossbow from the ground. "Some guy, did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?"

They were all disappointed Sophia wasn't there, but were ready to head back to the creek and continue on. They still had a few miles to go before turning back to the highway anyways.

Then _bells_. Laura's eyes went wide, there were actual _bells_ ringing. Everyone was hearing it, it wasn't her imagination playing tricks.

Rick pointed in a direction and they all followed, running behind Rick through the woods. "What direction?" Shane stood on top of a fallen tree. They slowed down to try and listen for the bells. "I think that direction. I'm pretty sure."

"Dang, it's hard to tell." He jumped down from the tree. "If we hear them then maybe Sophia does too."

"Someone's ringing those bells, could be signaling others." Glenn shrugged his backpack on better, Andrea came walking by. "Signaling that they found her."

"She could be ringin' them herself. Come on." Rick chose another direction and started running down a slant, everyone close behind.

They ran for a little while, all of them spending themselves to follow the sound of the bells, hoping that Sophia wouldn't be too far from them either. Eventually, they broke the treeline and they could all see a white church with a graveyard.

It was a rather simple looking church, but there wasn't a walker in sight.

"That can't be it. Ain't got no steeple, no bells." Shane observed. He was right about the steeple, but Laura couldn't see many churches being in the area and, even if this wasn't the right church, Sophia could still be there. Rick didn't care if it was the wrong church, he broke into a run again. "Rick-!" Shane chased after him, the group on their heels.

Rick went around to the front of the church, still not a walker in sight. He jumped up the concrete stairs to the red double doors.

He pulled out his gun, him and Daryl stood at either side of the doors as Rick made a _shush_ gesture and they both opened the doors.

Laura was at the foot of the stairs, she couldn't see what was happening once they entered the church.

Three people entered, Rick, Shane and Daryl. By the time Laura got to the top of the stairs with the others, she saw Glenn holding the crossbow and the three men inside wielding blades of some form.

Rick cut into a walker on the far left side, Shane went straight down the center aisle and stuck his blade into a walker's skull, while Daryl went around the right side and sliced open the head of the last walker.

When all was quiet, Rick cried out "Sophia!" before opening a door that lead to the outside. He peered out but didn't see anything.

Daryl had gone up to the alter, looking over it for a moment. "Yo, JC, you takin' requests?"

No one knew what to say, they all thought there was a chance for Sophia to be here, or somewhere nearby. When they saw nothing, it was as painful not knowing.

"I'm telling you it's the wrong church, it's got no steeple, Rick." Shane again, trying to convince Rick. "There's no steeple."

He said this right before the bells started up again, louder as they were much closer to the source of the sound. They couldn't be at the wrong church, the bells were so loud and clear here.

Daryl sprinted out the doors, Rick and Shane not far behind. When they got outside, they followed the sound and Laura picked up that it distinctly sounded hollow, not like large metal bells at all.

Around the side of the building, they all saw a loudspeaker blaring out.

Glenn ran up to it, popped open a small metal box at the end of the loudspeaker cord, and yanked something out, which stopped the sound.

"Timer," Daryl pointed out, "It's on a timer."

"I'm gonna' go back in for a bit." Carol left the group and went to reenter the church, saddened by not finding Sophia there. They all joined her in the church again, Laura was hesitant, she'd never been in a church and felt like she was offending peoples belief by just standing in it.

_Brilliant, add religious offence to the list of offenses I've made_. Laura figured she was technically a point of religious discussion. She was part of the dead, she had died, but she was alive again and surviving in a group with other people who needed all they could get.

Laura theorized that, had she ever become religious, she may see this as a sign from God. She frowned, _Probably something about chances, good will, and all that._ She didn't know, she never knew much when it came to worshiping something.

That's why, standing in this church, watching Carol on her knees praying to her God, made Laura feel suddenly very awkward. Was she supposed to do something? She looked around, the others were standing in the back and she was sitting on the edge of the back pew. Was she not supposed to sit down? Lori was in the front sitting down.

While Carol prayed, Laura admitted to herself about praying silently with her. Nothing about this _Ed_ character Carol kept mentioning, but about Sophia. Safety, security, and a future for all of them. She was nervous about it, didn't know how to do it, but when Carol got up and sat with Lori, she felt stranger about it all.

A few minutes inside after that and they all started to leave the church.

Laura had forgotten how hot it was outside while they were inside the church, inside was nice, cool, but outside was welting heat. Made her shake her head and continue on, she felt like she was being cooked.

They all found a large tree in the graveyard and sat down, Lori and Glenn were passing out water. When Lori came to Laura, who was standing a few feet away, the woman paused when she looked at her face. Laura nodded and lowered her head, Lori was concerned about her, being a walker. She could see it plain as day.

Cautiously, like Laura was a wounded animal, Lori stepped closer to her and handed her a water bottle. Laura was thankful and wanted to comment on the woman's bravery of approaching her like that, but Lori was already passing out water to the others again.

_Understandable. Just be happy they aren't trying to kill you._ Laura kept away from the group, she wanted to always stay near Rick or Daryl, they accepted her quickly, but the others... She wasn't so sure about. Shane wanted her dead, that much was certain, but the way Lori looked at her, like she was waiting for Laura to lunge at her, that made her acutely aware that she was still with humans.

Rick and Shane were off talking, Laura wasn't going to listen in. Their business was their business. Instead, she made sure she could see Daryl at all times, just in case someone else in the group was thinking less then kind thoughts about her and her walker past.

When Shane walked up, she half expected him to knock her on the head again. She stepped back quickly, making sure there was enough space between them, just in the off chance he did decide to do something.

"Y'all gonna' follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick are just gonna' hang back, search this area another hour or so." Everyone started standing up and getting their packs on their backs and shoulders again.

"Splittin' us up?" Daryl was a little confused, the lesser the number, the more dangerous it was for people. "Ya sure?"

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane didn't seem on the same page with this plan, Laura could see that much.

"I want to stay to." It was Carl, standing in front of the group. "I'm her friend." Laura smiled at him, he was a good friend.

Shane and Rick looked at each other, neither one of them making any kind of motion to answer. Shane looked away and shook his head, he was worried about bringing Carl along.

When neither spoke against it, Lori came up to Carl. "Just be careful, okay?" Carl grinned, "I will."

"Oh, when did you start growin' up?" She hugged him, a mother's worry. Rick came up and reassured her, giving her a hug too.

"Here, take this." He held out his gun to her, but she shook her head. "I'm not takin' your gun and leavin' you unarmed." _Smart..._ Laura thought, Rick and Shane would need all they could get. Just the two of them and Carl? It was risky.

Daryl pulled out a gun from his belt, "Here, I got a spare. Take it." Lori accepted it, putting it in her back pocket.

Laura came up beside Rick, "Should I go with you, on account of... y'know?" She gestured to herself. Rick appeared contemplative for a moment, trying to see how they could use her while looking around the church and woods.

"I think it's best if you go back to the highway with them." He answered, there wasn't much she could do out here that they couldn't do. Walk around and look. "We won't be too long."

She nodded and followed the rest of the group, leaving Shane, Rick and Carl at the church.

Making their way back wasn't too hard, just a long walk. Daryl knew the direction better then anyone and was leading them through the woods safely. No walkers yet. Laura didn't expect to see many out in the woods anyways.

After a good while of walking, she stepped over an old fallen tree. "So this is it? This is the whole plan?" Carol asked, sitting down on the same tree Laura stepped over.

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups."

Laura didn't like the sound of that, the less numbers there were, the higher chance there was of something bad happening. "Carrying knifes and pointy sticks." Andrea remarked, she'd seen the gun Daryl gave Lori. "I see you have a gun."

"Why, you want it?" Lori was annoyed, Laura stepped back a little bit. She pulled out the gun and held it for Andrea. "Here, take it. I'm sick of the looks you're givin' me." Laura hadn't seen Andrea eyeing Lori, but she saw the look on the blonde woman's face now and all Laura wanted to do was smack it off of her.

When Andrea took it, Lori sat on the tree. "All you." She sighed, looking at Carol. "Honey, I can't imagine what you're goin' through and I would do anything to stop it, but you have got to stop blamin' Rick. It is in your face _every_ time you look at him. Once Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, not for a _second_. I don't know any of us would've gone after her like he did, or made the hard decisions he had to make, or that anybody _could_ have done it _any_ differently." Lori glanced around the group, all of them silenced. "Anybody?"

No one answered, just watched her. Even if someone had a better answer, if there was one, no one would say anything. Lori was distressed and so was Carol, speaking up would only make things worse.

Laura hadn't a way to answer though, no one would've hesitated going after Sophia though, they all were trying now.

"Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. You think you can do this without him then go right ahead, nobody is stoppin' you." Lori drank down some of her water, putting the bottle back in her bag.

Andrea held the gun back out to Lori, who took it.

"We should keep moving." Laura smiled, the woman wasn't that bad, she just wanted her protection back.

They kept moving, following Daryl closely. No one wanted to get lost in the woods. Laura didn't mind it so much, the worst that would happen to her is that she would lose the group, but the others... walkers were a constant threat. She wondered what it must be like to fear them.

She remembered vaguely the feeling when she was bit, but no one knew what a walker was then, she was being chased through a house and she was bitten, jumping out of the window she broke her leg. When she escaped her father and ran into that herd in the alley, she thought she was going to be eaten then too.

Nothing happened, they just left her alone and now she couldn't imagine having thousands of walkers hunting her at every turn. They knew the feeling, it's what made them survivors.

She sighed, rolling her shoulders until they popped loudly. She made a face, the pop didn't feel good, but she felt a little looser now.

**_BANG_.** They all jumped, it was a distant shot, but it was still gunfire. There was no more after the first one, they were all quiet and paid close attention, but Laura couldn't hear any more shots.

"What was that?" Carol asked.

"A gunshot." Laura stepped forward, beside the woman.

"Ain't no use worryin' 'bout it now, can't tell where it came from." Daryl came back to the group, he was always ahead of them about five to six feet. "Come on, let's keep lookin'."

It was only a few minutes later when Lori stopped again. Laura realized that Carl had gone with Shane and Rick, she was probably worrying over him leaving with them. Only natural, so Laura smiled and let her worry.

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked as everyone turned around to see Lori facing away from them, listening.

Lori was dismissive, "It was a gunshot."

"We all heard it." Daryl commented, which made Lori spin around to face him. "Why one? Why just _one_ gunshot?"

"Maybe they took down a walker." He answered, only to get a scoff from Lori. "Please don't patronize me, you know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly." Lori went back to looking out through the woods, as if her answer was going to come bounding out at any second.

"Shouldn't they have caught up to us by now?" Carol agreed with Lori, one gunshot was strange.

"There's nothin' we can do about it anyways. Runnin' around these woods chasin' echoes." He searched the trees, but there wasn't a single thing within sight.

"So what do we do?" Lori finally came back to the group. "Same as we been. Beat the bush for Sophia an' work our way back to the highway."

Andrea picked up on Lori's motherly concern, "I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV."

As Lori reluctantly started following the group again, Andrea decided that she wanted to speak with the mother of Sophia, Carol. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel."

Carol offered a small smile, "I s'ppose you do. Thank you." Carol glanced out into the woods, the sounds of birds and crickets masked the sounds of walkers. "The thought of her out here, by herself. It's the not knowin' that's killing me. I just keep hopin' and prayin' that she doesn't wind up like Amy."

_Ouch_. Laura winced, Andrea was a little shocked to hear such straightforwardness about Amy's death. Carol's eyes went wide and she stepped closer to Andrea. "Oh God, that's the worst thing I've ever said."

Andrea shook her head slightly, "We're all hoping and praying with you. For what it's worth." She understood that no one wanted to die, especially not like Jim or Amy.

Daryl came stomping up to the two, "I tell ya' what it's worth. Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hopin' and prayin'." Laura blinked back her own shock, was he really snapping at the mother who has lost her child? "We're gonna' locate that little girl an' she's gonna' be just _fine_. Am I the only one zen around here?" He stalked off, "Good lord."

The started moving again, Laura could see the smiles on Lori, Andrea, and Carol's faces. Daryl was being nice again, this time to other people. Laura smiled at the other women, she was sure that, with someone like Daryl searching, they'd find her. Rick and Shane too, they were still out there looking. Laura was thrilled to be with people so caring.

As they made their way around the creek, the grass started to get thicker and taller, the woods got a little denser too. Laura stuck close to the others, she was following Andrea's footsteps as she was the closest one to her and Daryl needed his space to work, she wasn't going to cling to him every second of the day just because they had a moment.

Laura rather liked Andrea, despite all the little things the blonde woman did that made Laura want to smack her. She was still a good woman who had wanted to die peacefully, Laura could easily relate to that. When she felt herself dying, it was a relief, all pain washed away, no sickness or suffering. It felt good.

Andrea had wanted that, it was clear to see why someone would in the first place. Laura loved it when it happened, Andrea would probably have too.

She wished she could share something like that with her, to tell her that death that came softly was nice, not cruel and harsh like the world around them. Laura didn't know how to even approach the topic, it wasn't something people in the group wanted to say.

Even before the world went to hell, people treated the subject of death like taboo. Laura never understood why, death happened to every living thing, plants, animals, and humans. Eventually, the human that acted like talking about death would actually kill someone would die.

She didn't see how mentioning it, discussing it, or even a passing phrase about death could be seen as a wrongdoing of some level.

"How much farther?" Laura was dragged out of her thoughts, the others were getting tired, at least, the women and Glenn were, Daryl looked like he didn't care at all. "Not much. Maybe a hundred yards. As the crow flies."

"To bad we're not crows." Andrea moaned, her comment making Laura smile.

They began traversing rather uneven ground, trees had been falling here for a long while and piles of wood littered the area, making it a little hard to walk around without tripping over themselves.

Andrea ran straight into a very large spider web and was offended by its very existence, Laura laughed and she got a dirty look from Andrea.

Laura took a few steps after Andrea cleaned off the spider web and she tripped flat on her face, this time, Andrea laughed at her. Laura sighed as Andrea continued on.

"As the crow flies my ass."

Laura chuckled, pushing herself up just in time to see a walker approaching Andrea, who _screamed_ as loud as she could once she saw it. "Andrea!" Laura got herself up and ran to the woman.

She was pushing against the walker who had her by the shoulders, almost within biting distance. Andrea stabbed the walker in the chest, but that never did anything to deter a walker.

By the time Laura caught up to them, Andrea tripped and was on the ground trying to kick the walker off.

Laura ran up and grabbed the walker by its tattered clothing and pulled him off of her, she kept dragging the walker back until she heard loud and heavy stomping. A baseball bat connected with the walker's head and sent it toppling to the ground on top of Laura who was beyond stunned at this time.

"Lori, Lori Grimes?" There was a woman on horseback and Laura was suddenly all too happy to hide under the walker now.

The group came up on Laura's right, all of them were answering Andrea's cries. "I'm Lori." The woman turned to face the group now, "Rick sent me, you gotta' come now." _What the hell?_ Laura got worried, the only reason Rick would send some stranger in his place to get his own wife is if he was incapable of doing it himself.

"What?" Lori was equally confused, "There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." Laura's blood ran cold, _Oh God no._ Both children in the camp compromised, Sophia missing and Carl shot. "He's still alive, but you gotta' come now. Rick needs you, just come!" The woman urged and Lori replied.

Throwing off her backpack, Lori was more then ready to find out what was wrong. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! We don't know this girl!" Daryl objected, "You can't get on that horse!"

"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl." Glenn was staring at the woman, "Backtrack to Fairburn Road, two miles down is our farm, you'll see the mailbox, name's Greene." The woman, with Lori on the horse behind her, kicked her horse into a full gallop and left the group there wondering exactly what had just happened.

The walker Laura was using as a makeshift dead shield was actually still moving and decided it was time to sit up and start making noise.

"Shut up." Daryl shot an arrow which pierced it's skull and put it permanently down.

Laura shoved it off of her and Glenn was actually the one to help her up. "You okay?" She nodded, "Yeah, thanks."

Daryl helped Andrea up, the woman was terrified. She almost met her end, but definitely not the one she would've wanted. "Bites?" He started to look her over, trying to find anything, but she shook her head. "No."

"We need to regroup, come on." Daryl lead the way, they were heading straight to the highway now.

Laura looked down at herself, she wasn't too bad off. New clothes needed, she already looked like a walker, she didn't want to smell like one too.

This time, Laura stayed closer to Daryl and the entire group moved faster after Lori rode away with the stranger on horseback. Laura was suspicious, but then again, she was always suspicious of people. Even in this group, no one had touched her since they learned about her, no one talked to her except Daryl and Rick.

Glenn didn't seem to have a problem with her, at least, not a big enough one to stop him from helping her up earlier. He still seemed a little on edge around her, but nothing that caused him to shun her completely.

Daryl spared glances at her every now and then while on their way back to the highway, she wasn't sure what for, but he was doing it. It was protective and she decided she liked that. Someone wanted to _protect_ her, she grinned, it was a comforting and new feeling.

They could just barely make out the highway in the distance, the trees started thinning out and Glenn rushed ahead of them, running to tell Dale and T-Dog the news.

"Hey! We got a problem!" She heard Glenn up ahead getting the attention of Dale, "Carl's been shot!"

"Shot?" The older man approached them, "What do you mean shot?"

"I don't know Dale, I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode outta' no where like Zorro on a horse and took Lori." Glenn answered as fast as he could, climbing over the railing.

"You let her?" Daryl got over the rail, "Climb down outta' my ass, ol' man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's."

"And I heard screams, was that you?" Dale was concerned, but after Andrea and his fight earlier that morning, Laura wasn't sure if Andrea would ever speak to Dale again. "She got attacked by a walker, it was a close call."

"Andrea, are you alright?" Laura sighed, Dale was trying, but Andrea wasn't ready to talk to him again.

She turned around, pissed off and scared. Andrea just about faced the exact thing she told Dale she didn't want to die from. Andrea opened the RV door and slammed it behind her.

"The girl on horseback," Laura started as it seemed everyone was still reeling from the experience. "She said to turn back to Fairburn road, go down two miles to a mailbox that should say Greene on it. That's where they are."

Dale nodded, "Are we going then?"

"Don't have much of a choice," Daryl stepped in, "Go find out what happened to 'em. Got enough gas to reach this farm of theirs. Can't sit around here doin' nothin', gotta' meet up. Ain't safe bein' out here like this."

"I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol argued.

"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale was trying to convince her, but this was Carol's daughter they were talking about.

"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen." Andrea grimaced, "If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be _awful_." Laura didn't think the little girl would make her way back judging that she would probably have dug herself deeper into the woods and farther from them.

"Okay, we got a plan for this. I say tomorrow mornin' is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to... rig a big sign." He was looking around for a place to do it, "Leave some supplies. I'll do it tonight, stay with the RV."

"If the RV's staying, then I am too." Carol smiled warmly at him and Daryl, "Thank you. Thank you both."

Andrea raised her hand, "I'm in."

"Well, if you're all staying, then I'm-" Dale put his hand up, "Not you Glenn, you're going. Take Carol's Cherokee."

He huffed, "Me? Why is it always me?"

"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on, but most importantly you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option." Everyone looked around to find T-Dog sitting on the bumper of the RV with a blanket around him. "That cut has gone from bad to worse, he has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm, see if they have any antibiotics, because if not... T-Dog will die. No joke."

Laura diverted attention from T-Dog to see Daryl walking off to his bike. He shifted around in the pack for a second before coming back and throwing a rag at Dale. "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle."

He set down a baggy on one of the cars, it was stuffed with medicine bottles. "Why'd you wait 'til now to say anything?" He dug around in the bag, "Got my brother's stash. Crystal, X, don't need that. Got some kickass pain killers." Daryl tossed the bottle to Glenn, "Oxycycline, not the generic stuff neither. That's first class." He closed up the bag and headed to put it back in the bikes' pack. "Merle got the clap on occasion."

Laura stared at the bag, _Where the hell did he get all that stuff?_ It was a decent sized bag and all it had in it was medicine bottles. She shook her head, she didn't care where it all came from, only that they could use it to help T-Dog.

Glenn and T-Dog got in the Cherokee and took off, careful of the derelict cars and trash on the road before finally leaving sight.

No one did much around, Laura, Daryl and Andrea went and checked the treeline every now and then, Dale stayed on watch on top of the RV, and Carol stayed inside the RV.

Laura wouldn't say anything, but she kept sights on Daryl at all times. Neither Andrea or Dale had shown hostility towards her, but watching him, at times, wasn't just for safety purposes.

She liked to watch him, she was sure he knew when she stared at him and it only made her stare longer, just to see if he'd look up. He never did of course, so she'd go back to scanning the treeline, but she found it amusing, something to keep her occupied.

All she had to do now was help them find Sophia, find out what happened to Carl, regroup with the others, and she was thinking about boys.

She groaned at herself, Laura felt like she was focusing on everything but the important things. She was hoping Carl would be alright. He was so young and getting shot out here, in this kind of a world? Would he be safe? Was the wound clean and properly tended to? Would he live?  
Sitting on the rail and looking out through the trees, she could wonder the same about Sophia. Would she live?

This group was suffering, she could see that much, but at this point she couldn't help them. She was here to do things that required cutting through large numbers of undead, or helping them clear out places to be safe, to take shelter in, or to scavenge without risk. They left Atlanta and her usefulness was beginning to plummet.

The moment that thought popped into her head, she grew uneasy. If she was no longer useful, would they kick her from the group? Would they do something like that?

Would she have to be alone again?

With a heavy sigh, she checked the perimeter, every now and then she would weave in and out of the trees, keeping an eye open for Sophia. She momentarily cursed herself, she couldn't see much aside from grass, bark, and dead leaves.

There was a single walker in the trees, but it was passing them by without a second thought. So she ignored it too.

She couldn't wait to regroup with the others. Never thought she'd say it, but she missed them all, including Shane. He was a good man, just because he didn't accept her didn't mean he was a bad person. He was protecting the group, she could admire that, but at the moment, walking through the trees and rubbing the spot where he hit her, she felt a little bad for telling them at all.

"Hey," She spun around, it was Daryl behind the rail on the hill, she was down below at the trees. "Come on." She obliged and climbed up the small hill and stepped over the rail.

"What's wrong?" She asked, following Daryl closer to the RV. She'd gotten a little ways from the group.

"Ain't nothin' wrong, 'cept you wanderin' off." He stopped a little ways from the group. "Went lookin' for you, no body had seen you around. Figured you'd be outta' sight somewhere anyways."

She grinned, "Well, you're right. Prefer to keep out of everyone's way. Considerin'."

He bit his thumb, "Ya' ain't got a problem with these people, they ain't gonna' do nothin'." He huffed, "Excludin' that cop, Shane."

"Yeah, he didn't seem so keen on me bein' around." She rubbed the spot again, it was right above her black eye. "I'm just out here wonderin' what everybody's thinkin'. With Sophia out there, Carl bein' shot, and the group in half, not to mention they're walkin' with a walker. Sometimes I feel like I should be watchin' my own back a little closer."

"Nah, they won't hurt you." He looked at Dale, "Most of 'em don't think you are a walker."

"Really?" She was a little hopeful, she wasn't quite sure why though, she _was_ a walker. Thinking that she wasn't wouldn't change that. "They haven't said much, but chinaman doesn't care much, Dale figures that so long as you got a workin' brain that you're fine. Don't know what the rest think yet."

"Thanks Daryl." Laura leaned on the car behind them. "When Shane suggested that I... Well, about Sophia. I dunno', I just got a little worried what would happen if he ran around tellin' people that I did somethin' like that." She snapped her eyes to Daryl, "But I wouldn't. I would never! I mean, I did stuff a normal walker did before, or tried to, eat people an' all that, but I ain't like that now. I'm almost human again."

"Don't need to tell me, girl." He smirked, "If I thought you'd do somethin' like that, I'd have shot you."

She rolled her eyes, "Well that makes me feel tons better."

Laura glanced around quickly, making sure no one was around. "So... about last night...?"

Daryl was paying attention to her again with that kind of level of focus that almost made her think she was prey. "What about it?" He looked almost, if she dare say, worried.

"I dunno', just askin'." She was grinning and fiddling with her jacket zipper. Her hood was never up anymore, she didn't care, but she still wore the jacket and began wondering why she wore it.

He looked uncomfortable, he was shifting on his feet a lot. "Regrettin' it?" He was biting his thumb murderously now.

She shook her head, "No, nothin' like that. I liked it, 'course I did." She took a deep breath, "Just thinkin' about it today, last guy I kissed tried to kill me. You can imagine that makin' me a little on edge 'bout it."

"Tried to kill you?" Daryl's brow furrowed.

Smiling, she pushed herself off the car. "Some things had happened to me before I met this group y'know. I guess, if we're going to start flirtin' that I'll tell you, but I don't want to ruin the mood right now."

He looked a little distressed, "You're playin' with me, girl."

"I ain't doin' nothing." She defended herself, she was playing with him a little bit. _A little teasing never hurt_. She was thrilled that he cared enough to ask about it. "I'm just sayin' stuff. Stuff you may or may not find out, dependin' on where we go with this."

He stepped out of her way, "Ain't thinkin' _that_ far ahead."

"Neither am I, so we'll have to find out. If, that is, you're willin'." She offered, it was a relationship she was asking about. If he wanted to be with her, to give her a shot.

Daryl just turned and stalked off back to the group, not aggressively, but he was thinking about the question. She knew Daryl well enough to know that, when faced with an emotionally compromising event that he'll either clam up or spout curses. That's what he did when Merle was left behind, swore at the entire camp.

However, this was a new side of him she could get used to. The clamming up side. He wasn't going to say anything until he was sure or confident enough about it. So she'd give him his space, let him think over it while they survived in the hellish world around them.

She only hoped he'd make up his mind quickly, no human in this world had much time. Which is why she was so willing in the first place, she knew there wasn't much time and wanted to make herself known.

Laura swore she wouldn't be victimized again and she'd do everything in her power to make sure she didn't. However, this was a whole new thing and she wasn't about to let it go because she was worried he _might_ do something.

_Might_ being the key word here. Could he? Of course, he was a strong man, he could overpower her, but he didn't strike her as the kind for that. He was tough love and she really enjoyed that.

They'd do more about it later.

Laura, on the other hand caught up to him before he arrived back with the group, grabbed his arm and leaned up to peck his cheek, he tensed up noticeably. Which sent him reeling for a few seconds, he just stared at her. "What did you do that for?" He didn't relax, only watched her like a hawk.

She shrugged, "Just thought you'd like to know where I stood in all this." She walked with him back to the group who didn't seem too interested in their arrival.

Laura left his side and climbed onto the RV, joining Dale up top to watch over the group and the highway, checking for another herd.

She would spare looks at Daryl, but she did the same with the rest of the group. Carol was inside the RV, she could hear the pained woman and it made her feel bad for being so happy.

Bringing her down off her high, Laura turned back into work mode, she focused all her attention on looking out for the little girl.

She had to find this child, it would mean so much to the group if Sophia was found. She didn't care who found Sophia, only that she was back, with her mother, and safe.


	20. Confessions of a Walker

When night came around, they had all piled into the RV.

Dale was on watch on top of the RV still and Laura was outside with him, functioning as a permanent double shift. She had long since ditched her jacket, the cool night air was welcome on her skin. She was almost always covered up, but being out of the jacket was a great change that she wasn't sure she'd ever want to go back to wearing the old jacket.

She spent part of the night in silence, speaking to no one and hearing nothing.

That was, until Daryl exited the RV. Laura paid close attention, he swung his crossbow onto his shoulder and stepped away from the RV. "I'm goin' for a walk, shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her somethin' to look at."

Laura hopped down from one of the abandoned cars, she wanted to help. "You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked, crouching on top the RV.

"It'll be fine." Daryl turned around to see Laura approaching. "I'm comin' with, I wanna' help." He nodded to her.

They headed out into the woods, down an old pathway that had clearly been used before the world went to hell. Old tire marks, low branches that had been broken off.

Daryl was leading, he shined the flashlight into the woods, both of them listening close for anything. There were animals out and about, making noise like claws climbing trees, twigs breaking, but there was nothing suggesting human footsteps.

And no Sophia so far.

"I wonder if Rick and Shane found anythin'." She spoke up suddenly, catching Daryl's attention quickly. "I mean, before Carl was shot. I know that's a terrible thing to think about, what with Carl bein' shot an' all... but I just keep hopin' they found somethin' out 'bout Sophia."

"These ain't the mountains of Tibet, it's Georgia. She can be holed off in a farmhouse somewhere." Daryl kept scanning the light through the trees, "People get lost, they survive. Happens all the time."

Laura sighed, "She's just a kid though, she doesn't know how to survive. I'm twenty-five an' I don't know how to survive out here."

"Hell, I was younger then her when I got lost. Nine days eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak." Laura frowned, "How'd you get back?" She was disturbed he had gotten lost like that. "My ol' man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doin' another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though, went straight into the kitchen an' made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear, 'cept my ass itched somethin' awful."

Laura chuckled, earning her a slightly amused look from Daryl. "I'm not laughin' at the story, I'm sorry that happened to you." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Just... nevermind." She was still chuckling lightly.

"Difference is, Sophia's got people out here lookin' for her." Daryl was even smiling a little now, "I call that an advantage."

A little bit deeper into the woods and they diverted off the path, opting to search through the trees. Laura was tense, she hated being somewhere she knew that, if she got separated from Daryl, that she wouldn't be able to get back to the highway. She didn't want to, but she was relying on him right now.

It was her choice though, to go out with Daryl to search for Sophia, she'd have to deal with the fear of getting lost again. Daryl wouldn't let her go anyways, so long as he could, he keep her near.

"I hate goin' out here." She started, looking up through the trees to see the slight shimmer of moonlight. "I can't navigate, I don't know how to get back. The other day when Sophia ran and Rick went after her... by the time I knew what was happenin' I was too late. Too far behind 'em both, but I just kept runnin' to catch up. At that point I didn't care if I got lost, Sophia was in trouble an' I wasn't gonna' sit around."

Daryl shined the light her way, she could look directly at it without squinting. It only made her more aware of herself and what she is. "When I finally couldn't see Rick anymore, I just kept runnin' an' runnin'. See, I don't get tired anymore, I haven't felt tired, exhausted, or fatigued since before I turned. So I could just keep goin' an' goin'. Never stopped, not until I lost my footin' an' ran clean over the bank of that creek. Hit that water like a ton of bricks an' just couldn't bring myself to get back up."

"Don't get tired, why didn't you get up?" He kept the light on the woods now, his crossbow at the ready.

"Didn't want to get up an' realize that I was lost. I mean, I _knew_ I was lost, but I just didn't want to _get up_ and face it." She shrugged, "Fear I guess. It's what drove me into this group."

Daryl looked at her strangely, "Walker's don't eat you, they don't do nothin' to you an' you're scared. Of what?"

"People." She replied honestly, he just looked down a moment and nodded. "An' bein' alone. I'm safe when I'm walking with a horde of the undead, perfectly safe, but there's no company. The undead cannot speak. However, when I tried to be part of a group last time... Well, it didn't end well on account of my... y'know." She pointed to her face.

He got the idea, "You said the last time you kissed a guy, he tried to kill you." He said it strangely, like he didn't want to admit she either kissed someone else or he tried to kill her.

"There was a group in Atlanta. Made up of seven people, all good people really. Red, who was the leader of the group, he was the quiet type. Braddock was a big tough guy, I mean really big but he was a softy. Then there was Daisy and Melanie, older and younger sister respectively. Elizabeth and Markus, a brother and sister." She smiled absently, "That leaves Micheal. He was a charmer an' laid it on me early. Damn good at it too. I never had a guy hit on me before, never been with someone, so I gave him a chance but... I felt scared about lettin' him _see_ me as I am."

"Assumin' they found out, otherwise, you'd be with them still, right?" Daryl, at times like this, was hard to read. He appeared stern, but cautious.

Laura huffed, "Yeah, they found out. Micheal and I... well, it never got far or anythin'. Kissed me by the fire, bein' all romantic an' stuff. Talkin' about how he wanted to see my eyes, bettin' they'd be beautiful an' all that." She let out a humorless laugh, "Boy was he wrong. He pulled down my hood an' took a good look. Everyone thought I was turnin' so Red an' Braddock took me down, away from the others, and put a knife to my head, seein' that a gunshot would attract walkers. I managed to get out, puttin' my gun to Red's head. I would never shoot, but Braddock didn't call my bluff. Red did on the stairs down outta' the buildin'. He knocked me down a flight, but didn't chase me. I got away, little battered from the stairs, but I made it."

Daryl had a thoughtful expression on. "You liked this guy, Micheal?"

Laura smiled widely, "I did, a little, but nothin' big. I just... never got doted on by a guy. New experience an' all that. He was all flattery, I don't know if he actually liked me or not, but it was fun while it lasted. I don't blame them though, they were just protectin' the group. Needs of the many an' all that."

"Did you tell 'em what you told us? 'Bout your dad and bein' cured?"

"Tried to, but they didn't listen. Thought it was just desperate pleas from a dyin' woman. That's all." Daryl set his jaw, "Should've listened to ya'. Would've made things easier on them."

"Yeah, but if they did, I'd probably be with them still." Laura stepped closer to Daryl, to where their shoulders were touching. He flinched at the contact, but didn't move away. Laura took that as encouragement. "An' I prefer it here."

He smirked, "I was thinkin' about last night." Laura's heart nearly burst from her chest, had he decided? _Please say yes, or something approving._ "I like you already, especially when you came with us to find my brother. Kinda' surprisin'."

"I try." She replied, she actually had wanted to help. "But I really did feel bad about leavin' him behind like that. It wasn't right."

"It wasn't." He nodded distantly, "But you an' Rick an' them went back, did right by my brother, even if we didn't find him. Then you apologized for leavin' him even when you didn't do nothin'. Ain't your fault Merle got left. He even knocked you around an' you still were sorry."

Laura still had the black eye to prove it, Daryl hated seeing it. "I figured you were alright... When those bastards grabbed you in Atlanta, the _Vatos_." He was growling, "You were screamin' for me. Figure I should... apologize... for not stoppin' 'em from takin' you." The words were clearly difficult for him to say, very alien against his natural rough demeanor. He obviously regretting saying them the second he had, he wanted to take them back, ignore her and move on, but he actually had gotten pissed off with the Vatos for taking her and for not being able to stop them.

"Daryl, they beat on you with bats." She still remembered seeing them attacking Daryl in the alley. It wasn't a pleasant sight, she wondered if they were going to kill him. "The Vatos didn't do anythin' anyways, they were good people... just a little rough around the edges. You did nothin' wrong, in fact, you came back for me with Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog, even with your brother out there."

He offered a slight smile, one Laura happily returned. "You came to get me, hell, I was sure Rick wasn't even goin' to come for me, but y'all did. _You_ did an' I can't thank you enough for that." She pulled him to face her straight on, "You punched Shane after he pointed a gun at me, you pulled me outta' the CDC when it blew. You fought for me when the Vatos grabbed me, even after gettin' beat on. No one has _ever_ fought for me like that before. I owe you more then I can give back."

Daryl wasn't used to this situation, he hadn't thought he did that much for her but in the span of a few days he'd saved her life and strived to protect her. He didn't feel as good as she was making him out to be, but he didn't want to say it, tell her that he was just white trash, fearing she'd turn tail and leave him behind, he was just a redneck, at least, that's how he saw himself.

Other people did to, they could hear him, look at him, and all have the same opinion. Redneck trailer trash. He didn't want her to laugh at him, he _liked_ her and Laura had clearly shown she liked him just as much, if not more.

He just wasn't sure where to go from here and was worried she'd reject him. He didn't know how he _felt_ about this situation, it was odd for him and she seemed to be having the same struggles, yet he didn't want to tell her too much about him or his past. She'd just _laugh_.

At this moment, Laura saw him fighting something, she didn't know what, but he was obviously having a hard time with it. He had gone quiet for a long while, looking at the ground between them.

She took action, only had so long to live. She put a hand on the side of his face, he tensed and looked directly at her, it wasn't hard to find her eyes in the dark, they reflected just like that night in the CDC.

With a small smile, she leaned in and brushed her lips against his tentatively. He didn't move at first and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but after a few seconds he returned the kiss.

She grinned and felt a hand on her waist and the other on her neck, deepening the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him as close as she could. Carefully, she opened her mouth slightly, letting her tongue run along his bottom lip. He obliged and their tongues danced, his other hand fell to her waist and she could feel his grip tightening around her. There was no space between them anymore as the kiss grew in passion, she was pressed firmly against him and she relished the feel of his solid body against hers, his heat warming her inside and out.

Reluctantly, they broke the kiss. She had forgotten that they were out in the middle of the woods searching for Sophia, but she knew it was dangerous for him to be out here not focusing on the sounds around them. A walker could've come up and bit him.

"We should keep goin'." He nodded mutely and, eventually, he removed his hands from her waist. She never stopped smiling and Daryl didn't seem too bad off, he wasn't intending on breaking apart so soon, but it was dark and there were walkers out here.

He had his crossbow in hand again, shining the light through the woods.

Silence washed over them, but it wasn't uncomfortable, it was relaxing. As if a lot of problems had just disappeared with the simple act of kissing. She licked her lips, he tasted like what she imagined someone who spent their days in the woods would. It was strange, but she liked it.

There was a rustle, a heavy one, off to the side. Daryl brought up his crossbow and aimed it in the direction of the sound.

They followed the sound, Daryl was extremely careful and Laura just walked forward without a care in the world. At least if it was a walker making the noise, she should be the one to find out first instead of letting him get jumped.

It was a campsite, a decently sized one. It had a few supplies laying around and Laura went to work. There was a small table off to the side with a few tools on it, wrenches, nails, and the like. Dale might appreciate having a few new tools. So she put what she could in her pockets, she hadn't carried her big duffle with her.

Daryl was still crouched and scanning the area, the rustling hadn't stopped. In fact, it had gotten more frequent and louder.

When she turned around, she saw Daryl passing underneath a large low hanging branch. "What the hell?" There was a walker in the tree, it was a man who had hanged himself.

There was a note on the tree with a knife keeping it in place. "Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit." Laura shook her head, it was a hard life people lead in this new world, but she admired those who hadn't given up like this group she was with. "Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head."

He aimed the flashlight on the walker, "Turned himself into a big swingin' piece of bait. Look at that mess." He aimed the flashlight at the walker's face. "This is as close to food as he's been since he turned. Look at 'im, hangin' up there like a big pinata." He pointed at the legs and feet, "The other geeks came an' ate all the flesh off his legs."

He turned around to the camp where Laura was standing, "Let's head back."

Laura opened the tent flap, there wasn't much inside. Just an old bedroll that clearly had some kind of creatures that came to live in it every now and then. Nothing of any use, so she left the tent.

"Yeah, nothin' here." She nodded ahead and Daryl took the lead again.

It was mostly quiet on the way back, they'd speak up every now and then, mostly about watching their steps over fallen trees and broken branches, but nothing of meaning since their last discussion.

Laura wasn't going to push her luck either, she felt lucky that she was the one who caught the hunter's eye. She was flattered just because he looked at her differently then he did the others.

She was so awkward when it came to this kind of feeling, to care for someone who isn't blood. Laura snorted, to care for someone in general. She loved her father, but it was distant and unrequited. Daryl liked her and she started to really care about him.

Unfortunately, this care came at the cost of knowing that she was involved with someone who could die any day. Granted, she could revive him if he turned. That is, if Jenner was right about her blood being a kind of cure. However, taking a hit to the head or being eaten alive, too much damage and reviving the person wouldn't be worth it.

She could remember the pain she was in before turning and after turning. She could still _feel_ it in her head, when she focused on it enough, she could feel the throbbing in her leg.

Tapping part of her brace on her upper thigh, she still couldn't wait to get it off. It was a slight hindrance and though she could still move with it on just fine, stairs, slopes, and anything that required her to lift with her legs became tedious.

They were nearing the highway now, it was still dark out and she didn't want to get back just yet.

She knew Daryl had to have been tired by now, up searching all day and now through the night. He must be exhausted, but did a good job of not showing it. She wanted to part on good terms, even though they were already on good terms as it was.

Instead of just walking back, letting him sleep and taking watch. She grasped his hand, he looked down to their hands and back to her. He didn't make much of a reaction, but didn't shun her either, so she just held his hand tighter. He responded by gripping her hand back.

She smiled, he wasn't the kind to show this kind of relationship stuff in the open and she could understand that. People watching all the time would get awkward.

She let go of his hand when they neared the RV. He went to enter the Winnebago. "Goodnight." She said quietly, "See you in the mornin'."

He nodded to her, smirking at her and entered the RV, leaving her to her happy thoughts.

Laura climbed the ladder to the roof of the RV where Dale was sitting. "Dale, take the night off, I can take watch."

He looked at her oddly, "Are you sure?" She nodded, "Absolutely. You need to rest up, I'll see y'all in the mornin'." He seemed to accept the offer readily, he was tired and it had been a long and trying day.

"Well, night then." He patted her shoulder as he passed and handed her the gun.

She took the seat on top of the RV and kept watch for the rest of the night. Never resting, always watchful.

Laura felt like this was a big help. Watch shifts would interrupt sleep and make people groggy or grouchy. If Laura could stay up all night, then she could easily give people the rest they deserved.

With the rifle in her lap, she picked up the binoculars from off the roof floor and kept a close eye on the area. Making sure everyone got their well deserved sleep so tomorrow they could do it all over again.

Only now, Laura had a big grin stamped on her face. She was never very forward before, of course she'd been interested in some guys when the world was right and she had a nine to five job. She wasn't asexual.

She just never knew how to do anything about it. How would someone walk up to another and tell them they were interested in going out, trying to date that person? Laura was a novice in this area, but was doing well to conceal her ignorance.

Laura did, however, feel bad that her first was those men back in Atlanta. The ones who had taken her away and stuck her in a dark room, hurt her. She'd never been with a man before that and that made it hurt all the worse.

She wondered if she ever found herself in a situation like that with a man she cared about, like with Micheal or Daryl, could she deal with the memory of those men forcing themselves on her? She'd never felt the pleasure of someone who showed compassion and caring towards her in that kind of a position. She wasn't sure if she could do such a thing with another person.

Then again, she huffed, she'd never slept with anyone before. She'd just have to be put in that position with someone she cared about to see what she'd actually do.

Laura put a hand to her lower stomach, she could still feel some soreness there. She hated that she healed so slowly, all her bruises were still as strong as the day they appeared, contrasting against her paler skin. The blacks, blues, yellows, and reds decorated her body. Some from the stairs when she ran from Red and Braddock, her black eye from Merle, others from the men who assaulted her.

There were a few left over from when her father had tested her, but most of them had happened when she was still a walker, so they ranged from two months ago to weeks ago. Some of the smaller ones had closed up and healed over, others like some of the larger surgical scarring was still there.

Still, her main concern was being able to show the same kind of compassion towards Daryl as a woman would to a man she was interested in.

They weren't anywhere _near_ that level yet, Laura just wanted to take all the time she had to think about it, find out if she was willing to step into that area with anyone again, after her assault.

She wouldn't decide now, it was something that just popped into her head. Laura would be lying if she hadn't said that kiss they had earlier didn't actually excite her a little. It was alarming, she hadn't meant to make it a feverish kiss, but it had turned in to a very short make out session.

When his hands were on her, she felt electricity. He hadn't intended for that either, she bet and yet, there it was. She liked it, a lot. More then she really should.

It was life affirming though, just very stable and decidedly _alive._

He was warmer then her, he was solid, a stable structure who could fight and survive. She was colder, just her body though, and was unsteady, not because she couldn't stand on her own, but because she was so unsure all the time.

She was scared of everything.

Laura sighed, _I am scared of everything._

"Hey." Laura snapped her head to the sound, it was Andrea. She'd come up the RV without her realizing it. _Some guard I am_. Laura nodded to her. "Hey."

"How's it going?" Andrea took a seat on the roof. Laura just shrugged, "Not too bad I guess." The blonde woman looked long at Laura, before smirking and narrowing her eyes. "Liar. You're really easy to read."

Laura laughed lowly, "Oh, seriously? I should work on that."

"Listen, I'm sorry about how things are going. What with you being a, uh-" Laura nodded, urging her to just say it. She gulped, "With you being a _walker_ , or kind of like one, I was kind of... thinking it was best to just get it over with. I felt a little... cheated when you said you could've saved Amy. I know you told us you didn't know about that until Jenner told you, but I was still angry."

_Ah._ Laura hadn't really paid much attention to the group after telling them about herself. "It's alright, I understand."

"Have you lost anyone? I mean, I realize your father was a bastard, but did you have any brothers, sisters, and what about your mother?" Andrea wanted to know Laura better after she revealed herself and Andrea was feeling braver, after today Laura may have saved her life pulling that walker off of her.

"Nah, I was an only child. Mother left me with my father when I was a kid. Never seen her since then." Laura was just about petting the rifle in her lap, the cold smooth metal was actually quite soothing. "I got away lucky I guess. I didn't have anyone before all this, so I haven't lost anyone. All my problems were part of the old world, this whole... walker thing. Whatever it is, I don't even know. I just gotta' watch my ass around humans."

Andrea made a weird face, "You say that like you're not."

"What?" Laura was confused.

"When I hear you talk about people, just normal people, you always say _humans_ instead of... I don't know, _others_ , or just _people_. It's like you're disconnecting yourself from us. I mean, you're one of us, you _are_ human." Andrea gestured to Laura's entire body. "Just because you look like a walker doesn't make you one. That's why I have trouble saying it. Not because I think you are one or think it a _bad word._ I don't like calling you a walker because you're not. You really are human. Just like us."

Laura smiled sadly. "Thank you, Andrea. That really means a lot to me."

"So, are you going to tell me what's up with you and the redneck?" She raised her brow suggestively. Laura just stared at her like she was crazy. "Oh don't look at me like that. I remember you walking off into the woods with him back at the quarry. I saw him go to your room at the CDC and just last night you and him were in the truck bed together." She pointed out to the woods, " _And_ you just got back, again, from being out in the woods with him. _Alone_. Together. If there isn't anything going on then you can go ahead and turn walker on me and _eat_ me alive. I'm willing to bet my life on it."

She bit her lip and averted her eyes, making Andrea smile brighter. "Ahh, so I'm right. There _is_ something going on."

"Maybe, we're not sure yet." Laura ran a hand through her hair, "I mean, we've... _kissed_. Nothin' else though, nothin' at all. We talk about things, I tell him stuff I haven't told anyone else here. I like him, I really do, and I feel comfortable around him... I'm just worried y'know. I can't turn again and walkers don't want to eat me. They do want to eat him though. If he gets bit... I really haven't a clue what I would do."

"Bring him back, if he gets bitten, you can do that right? Isn't that what Jenner said?" Andrea asked, pointing down into the RV where Daryl slept.

"If I can bring someone back, reverse the turn... Would I want that for him? If he got bit and died..." Laura showed Andrea her bite. "I was bitten, I know how much it hurts to die slowly and when you turn, you're not _aware_ , but when I was brought back, when I woke up with consciousness. I... Sometimes I wished I'd just died."

Andrea nodded, "I was going to stay at the CDC when it was... destroyed. I was ready to die, my way." She explained, this is what Dale and her were talking about. Laura was actually interested in Andrea's reason for living. "But I couldn't let Dale die, he didn't want to. I didn't _want_ to die, but I didn't want to come back out _here_ and struggle like this. I almost _died_ today. They wouldn't have gotten to me in time had that woman not come along. I would've been torn apart... I don't want to die, I want to live, but I don't want to live like this."

Laura got up and sat next to Andrea, taking the woman's hand in her own. "I cannot honestly say that I understand, I've never had to struggle in this world. I turned before this all happened and that was the only time walkers tried to hurt me. After that, when I woke up alive, the only people who ever hurt me were hu-... normal people. I struggle to be with others, but with walkers? I'm safe with them."

Andrea grinned, "I never thought about it like that. I guess that's true though. Shane was going to kill you if Rick and Daryl hadn't stepped in. You are safer with the walkers." She chuckled, "Kind of makes me want to be like you. Not having to worry about this world..."

"I do have to worry. There have been people." Laura leaned back, putting her hands behind her and bracing herself up. "I wasn't completely unscathed by this new world.

She looked interested in this. "Oh yeah? What _adventures_ have you had?" It was making light of a bad situation.

Laura sat still for a moment and remembered what Rick said. How it would be better to talk about it rather then let it eat away at her. It was eating at her now, she figured that if she and Daryl continued on, that there could come a day where he may want her like that. And it hurt her to no ends thinking about whether or not she had the capability to be in that kind of a vulnerable position again.

She wasn't in it willingly the first time, or the continuous assault, but it was something she had to think about. Starting a relationship with someone was challenging enough as it was, but to know that there could come a time when she found herself in a compromising position with him? Laura couldn't stop the memories that flooded back.

The dark room, being tied, thrown around like some kind of rag doll. When they were done, if she had the energy to stay awake, they would usually knock her out. She felt hurt, violated, they did things to her she didn't want to remember.

"My father kept me strapped down for days after I was cured, when I woke up. He conducted tests on me, I mean, before all this, when I was young and lived with him he was a neglectful and sometimes abusive ass, but this just got bad. He would cut open parts of me to check on muscle rejuvenation, to see if my body was restorin' itself properly." Laura pulled up her shirt up to her rib cage, on the right side was a thin cut. "He opened me up while I was still awake, when I could _feel_ again."

"Oh God." Andrea looked sick, "That's terrible."

"Yeah, felt terrible too." Laura let her shirt fall again. "Well, eventually the house got overrun. Walkers found him. Somethin' had happened, I still don't know what. So we both ran, I thought walkers would eat me still. When we got out of the house and into the car, he drove up to a gas station in the city. I didn't want to go with him, I wanted to get away. He put the child locks on the door so I couldn't get out and the windows were locked. He told me that he wasn't through with testin' me and that only when he was done I could go."

Laura rubbed the back of her neck, she could still remember the rage she felt when she attacked him. "I got so angry I fought him off, smashed the window and jumped out of the car. I ran as best I could, that's when I came face to face with a herd of walkers. They ignored me, didn't care about me in the slightest, but they chased my father. He got in the car and drove off. He got away."

"Hmpf, I want to kill that bastard." Andrea chuckled and Laura agreed, she didn't want to really, but the tests were too much and she wanted him to know what she had to go through. "What happened then?"

"Well, I hadn't eaten in a long time so I went inside the convenience store at the gas station he had pulled up to before. I looked around for food but couldn't see anything. At this point I didn't know much about the world ending, so I still thought about paying the cashier and went up to the counter to pay or try to." Laura put her head in her hands, laughing at herself embarrassingly. "I feel stupid about it now, but... there was someone there."

She crossed her legs beneath her and leaned forward. "He put a gun to my head and took me back to his group. Tellin' me that if I tried to run, he'd kill me." Andrea's eyes were wide and distressed now. Laura's stomach was in knots, she hated talking about it. It hurt physically to say it. "They were four men an' I didn't think much about it before really, 'cept when he told me what he was gonna' do. They tied my hands up an'... For four days they kept me there just..." Laura tried to force the words out of her mouth, but every time she felt like she was chickening out.

Andrea put a hand on her back, rubbing in a comforting motion. She had a concerned look on her face and it urged Laura to continue.

"For four days... they kept me tied up... and would..." Laura groaned quietly, "They raped me, beat me up sometimes. But mostly, for those four days I was stuck with them, they just kept..."

"It's okay. You don't have to say any more." Laura didn't realized she started crying, it wasn't heavy sobbing. It was pain that had been bottled up finally escaping, being released. Andrea pulled her close, holding Laura as she let her years fall. "You're here now, not with those pigs. It's okay here, we won't do anything like that."

Laura grinned, her throat was tight and she was sad, but Andrea was a great comfort. The woman was a little snarky and wanted her way a lot, but all she cared about ultimately was other people. Andrea cared about them more then she did herself. If she didn't, she would've stayed there at the CDC and not cared if Dale had died with her.

They stayed on that roof well into the night until Andrea grew tired. Laura felt such relief, Andrea had taken weight off of her that she struggled with everyday. The pain subsided, the fear of talking about it flew out the window. She felt confident again, about what had happened and who she was with.

She trusted Andrea now too. She knew Rick, Daryl, and now Andrea weren't bothered by her walker past now. They cared about her and it made her feel like she was walking on clouds.

Laura stayed on the roof, keeping watch even after Andrea offered to stay with her through the night. Laura assured her that she was fine and just needed time to think.

It wasn't a very eventful day, but she had let out a lot. She had a deeper moment with Daryl and had finally spoken up about her rape.

Strangely, Laura felt fantastic. Better then she had in a long time.


	21. Talking to the Hand

The group woke up rather early and waited until there was enough light before they started moving.

In the morning Daryl had gotten up and finished making the sign for Sophia, it was on the windshield of a car and there were supplies, food, water, and things to keep warm with piled on the hood.

Laura just kept an eye out, since her talk with Andrea, she felt just a little bit closer to the group, more of an emotional investment in them. She couldn't help but fear the day they faced the full force of the walkers though. They hadn't experienced a real horde, not just a docile herd, but an angry _horde_.

She didn't want them to find out, she wanted them to be lucky and never cross paths with a horde.

Laura climbed off the top of the RV, they were planning on moving soon and she didn't want to get caught on top of the moving RV. When her feet hit the ground, she began running into people.

Andrea, Daryl, and Dale were all attempting a final scavenge of the cars around them, just trying to pick out whatever they could in the last few minutes.

Smirking, Laura went over to the bike and sat on the back seat, she didn't want to ride with anyone but Daryl if she could help it. If he didn't want her to ride with him, she'd leave him alone, but she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to ride with Daryl or on the bike.

She really loved riding on the bike. It was invigorating, the open ride.

When Daryl came back and saw her sitting on the bike, he grinned. She was giddy since their moment in the woods, she didn't want to dote on him, act like she couldn't live without being around him, but she did want to spend time _around_ him while he did whatever it is he does all the time. Hunting, searching, scavenging, she didn't care, she just liked him being near.

When the others got in the RV, she knew it was time to go and readied herself for the ride. Daryl got on in front of her, starting up the bike it roared as it came to life. Laura held onto Daryl as they pulled out of the car graveyard.

The RV had enough room to turn around, but Daryl had parked and waited for it to catch up to them.

After a few minutes of watching the road yacht turn around on the highway, they were finally moving. She kept an eye out for the road the woman on horseback mentioned, it was Fairburn. Couldn't have been too far away, the woman was on a horse and it wasn't too long after the gunshot they heard that she had arrived.

Soon enough, they found the street and lead the RV down it. _Two miles, that's what she said. Mailbox with Greene on it._ Laura kept an eye out and after a little while of riding, Daryl had slowed down and began to check mailboxes too.

When they saw the Greene mailbox, Laura was thrilled at the prospect of reuniting with the others. She wanted to offer her support to Rick and Lori, with Carl being shot they were probably suffering a great deal.

Of course, so was Carol, but Laura wasn't sure what the woman thought about her walker past and wasn't about to make the woman more uncomfortable then she already was in case she didn't approve of her.

They pulled up to a gate and Laura got off the bike, unlocked the gate and swung it open. The bike drove in and the RV close behind. Laura closed and locked the gate again, making sure it was secure. Daryl had stopped the bike in front of the RV and she ran up, hopped back on, and they were on their way down the dirt path to what they all hoped was where their group was at.

Laura could see the farmhouse now, it was a classic styled country home straight out of a southern magazine. She smiled, she loved the open fields and she could see the stable at her distance.

Daryl parked his bike in front of the house, the RV and SUV right behind them. The dismounted the bike and everyone began piling out of the farmhouse. Laura was so relived to see them. There were other people she didn't recognize and, while Dale approached Rick, she pulled her jacket back on and yanked her hood up as fast as she could.

There was still another question on her mind, Carl had been shot and he wasn't in sight.

"How is he?" The question on everyone's mind.

"He'll pull through." Laura's eyes rolled shut, she was happy to hear Carl was alright. That he would make it. "Thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori was looking to the older man, one of the strangers. "And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Rick brought up and Laura looked around for a moment before her eyes caught sight of the man.

To put it lightly, he looked terrible. He was in clothing three times his size, a shaved head, and was looking extremely distressed. Laura was concerned, he may have wanted her dead, he may still want her dead, but she cared about the group and the _group_ meant Shane too.

Dale didn't comment any further, just stepped forward and gave Rick a hug, Carol went up to Lori and hugged her also. "Thank God, we were so worried." Laura wouldn't have blamed the woman had she just ignored the news about Carl with her own daughter out there missing. She had a right to be worried sick about Sophia.

And still she managed to put on a strong face for Lori and help support the woman.

"How'd it happen?" Rick sighed, "A hunting accident. That's all, just a... stupid accident."

Before Laura knew it, she was listening to Rick explain the event. How he, Shane, and Carl were in the woods and there was a buck. Carl went up to the buck to get a closer look and it stayed still. Perfectly still, like it was waiting for him.

Then there was a gunshot, the buck fell, and so did Carl.

The man who shot the buck was out hunting and the bullet passed straight through the buck and hit Carl on the other side. The man's name was Otis and he brought Rick, Carl, and Shane back to the Greene farm where Hershel had tended to the bullet wound.

In an emergency, Otis and Shane went out to get medical supplies from the town school. Unfortunately, it was overrun and Otis didn't make it back. He died to save the life of the little boy he'd shot on accident.

They were actually just about to have his funeral, his wife, Patricia was one of the women who Laura noted was crying.

Laura felt she was punched in the gut. She was happy Carl was going to live, but Sophia was still missing and Hershel lost one of his people. Things looked a little grim, if not for Carl's recovery.

They all left to a place under some nearby trees on the property. They didn't have Otis' body to bury and instead began piling rocks to make a grave site.

Laura helped, just the little bit that she could until the rocks were all stacked neatly to commemorate Otis, who sacrificed himself to save Carl. She didn't know the man, but decided that she liked him. He died to right a wrong, one that was a complete accident, but he still died for it. He clearly wasn't an everyday person. Dying to save someone he didn't know.

The young Greene girl placed the last rock and rejoined her family.

Everyone stood around the rocks, Laura was next to Glenn and Daryl while she listened to Hershel read from the Bible. She never read anything from the Bible and wasn't religious herself, but paid respects to their belief and to Otis.

"Blessed be God, father of our lord, Jesus Christ." The Greene boy came up and placed another rock on the grave. "Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis. For his span of years. For his abundance of character. Otis, who gave his life to save a child's; now more then ever our most precious asset. We thank you God for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived. In grace."

Laura sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, she felt particularly cold here. "Shane. Will you speak for Otis?" Hershel requested, "I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him, you shared his final moments." Patricia was crying, but was strong enough to ask about Otis' death. "Please. I need to know his death had meaning."

She looked at Shane, he was struggling. She figured that if she watched someone's _final moments_ she would to, but then again, Shane was acting strangely. "We were about done. Almost outta' ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limpin' bad. Ankle all swollen up." Shane paused, taking a deep shaky breath. " _We gotta' save the boy_. See that's what he said. He gave me his backpack, he shoved me ahead. _Run_ he said, _I'll take the rear, I'll cover you_. An' when I looked back..."

Shane stepped up, taking a rock from the wheelbarrow. "If not for Otis I woulda' never made it out alive. That goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both..." He put the rock on the pile. "If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

After the funeral, everyone had a job to do. Apparently, Hershel had a map of the surrounding area. Rick, Shane, Andrea, and Daryl were all going to take a look at the map and plan out a better way to search for Sophia.

Laura wasn't the best idea to going it alone, she couldn't navigate to save her life. She'd just get lost. She'd wait until they were done planning to ask if she could go with someone, help them. More eyes to look and all that.

However, once they were done, Rick walked away with Hershel, Shane was definitely _not_ going to be the one she asked, and Andrea was stalking off pissed about one thing or another.

She grinned, Daryl was the last one there, taking a last look at the map and he was alone, as per usual. However, Laura felt like she'd smother him if every time he went out she asked to go with him. Instead, if he wanted her to come with, he would say something, otherwise, this time at least, she wouldn't interfere.

Right as Laura went to find something else to do, she froze. Daryl out there alone, in the woods, with no one to watch his back. Walkers could be out there, a herd could come by. Something could happen. He could find something.

Laura groaned, annoyed. He'd survived this long just fine, he used to go on hunts alone all the time. That first night she was in camp with the group, he was out for nearly two whole days before coming back. He was hunting a deer.

_That got eaten by a walker._ She huffed, angry at herself for worrying so much. _He can take care of himself. He's a grown damn man who is fully capable of taking care of himself._

Laura watched him leaning over the map, planning his search. _Then why am I losing my head over this?_

"Got somethin' you want or are you just starin' again?" She winced, she was staring this entire time and wanted to smack herself for it. She'd scare him off if she was honest about worrying over him so much. They only _just_ started out, going off the deep end because he's doing the exact same thing he was doing before she came along would be a rather unnerving thing to mention.

Instead, she smiled like nothing was wrong. "Can't help myself. You're like a magnet to my eyes." He smirked, glancing up from the map. "Oh yeah? Well, you're not half bad either."

She laughed at that. "Aw, thanks. That's so kind."

"You got a real reason, 'cause I know that look on your face." He didn't look up this time. "What look?"

He stood straight, his eyes meeting hers. " _That_ look. Ya' got somethin' on your mind. Say it, ain't gonna' be here all day. Gotta' get out there an' look."

Laura rolled her eyes, of course he could read her like an open book. Andrea told her just last night that she was a bad liar. "I _was_ hopin' to go out there an' help today. Searchin' for Sophia, lend my hand. Looks like all the others ain't goin' though."

"There a problem that you ain't comin' with me?" He looked normal, to everyone else, but Laura could tell he was thinking about something that bothered him again. "Not a problem with you, just didn't want to become an overbearin' gal an' start followin' you around everywhere. Gettin' in the way an' start annoyin' you."

"Girl, you don't annoy me. If you got in my way, I'd move you." Daryl was done with the map and came up to Laura. "'Sides, someone's gotta' keep an eye on you. Might wander off, get lost again."

"That was an accident." Laura glared playfully, "Yeah well, ya still got lost an' not even that far from the group. Need to work on your trackin' skills."

She nodded, "There's somethin' we can agree on. Trackin', huntin', and navigatin' my way through the woods. All useful knowledge to have, all of which I have none of."

"Work on that while we're out." Daryl pointed out to the trees, "Headin' out that way, be ready in a few minutes. Got somethin' needs takin' care of first. Meet ya' at the house."

Laura gave an affirming smile and walked to the RV. Her bags were inside and so were the weapons they had used when searching for Sophia the other day. She found the weapons easily, they were all laid out on the table inside the RV.

She found a hatchet, she liked them more then the other awkwardly shaped blades and the machete wasn't there. She put the handle through her belt, the head of the hatchet held it up and in place safely.

Shifting through her bag she grabs a bottle of water and drank down half of it. She hadn't eaten in a few days now, she needed to remedy that if she was ever to look healthy again.

Running her hands down her face, she stepped into the bathroom, the small mirror was enough for her to inspect herself.

Her face and body was beginning to regain weight, but she was still unnaturally thin. The way Laura saw it, if she could see her ribs, then she was unhealthy. She needed more weight to look normal.

Turning on the water, she wiped down her face, all the grime and dirt washed off easily. She didn't like how dry it felt. It was mostly mud from when she had fallen into the creek when chasing after Sophia.

She ran a brush through her hair, pulling out knots, leaves, rocks, and small clumps of dirt. Laura decided she missed the CDC showers.

Laura left the RV with the hatchet at her hip and pulled up her hood again. She didn't know the Greene family and wasn't about to risk getting killed after she finally found a group that actually accepted her, more or less.

She jogged to the farmhouse where Daryl was standing in front of waiting for her. _Had I taken that long?_ He nodded to her when she neared. "Ready?" He looked over her, he saw the hatchet. "Yeah, I'm good."

They went in the direction Daryl pointed in earlier, he wasn't too concerned about walkers as he was walking through the woods rather relaxed. Laura enjoyed seeing him _not_ on edge for once.

Both of them kept an eye out around them, watching for Sophia mainly, but walkers were a side concern of Laura's. She would watch for Sophia, of course, but she was mostly worried about the walkers.

And Daryl being edible to them. She bit her lip, she hated thinking of him like this, like he couldn't take care of himself, but it was part of the reasons he liked him so much. He _can_ take care of himself expertly well. He _chose_ to stay with the group, to help them when they asked for it. He even fed them, hunted for them, protected them.

Laura didn't so much care when he was with the group, but out here, with walkers? Suddenly life became a little harder.

He noticed her too, even though he hadn't said anything. That _look_ she gave him wasn't just staring, it was her watching _over_ him. Laura knew he understood that she didn't have to even think about walkers when she was out, they had no desire to eat one of their own.

He did though, he had to constantly think about them, watch for them, fight them. It was survival and Laura hated that he had to survive like this. If it weren't for the others, Laura would consider his life animalistic.

However, what Andrea said last night stuck with Laura.

If Daryl was bitten and he faced turning, would Laura try to revive him like she had been? Would she put that on him? It wasn't the greatest life, it wasn't normal and it hurt, but Laura wasn't sure if she could bring herself putting him in that kind of a situation.

Laura looked at Daryl, imagining what he'd look like if he got bitten and was revived like her. It was unnatural, she didn't much care for her appearance but was wary around other people because of it. Understandably too.

He caught her eyes and held her gaze until she looked away. _Damn his eyes._ When he wanted to, he could unnerve her just by looking at her.

"You're still starin'. We ain't startin' a lesson yet girl, relax." He chastised, but she could hear his smirk. It was smug, almost all knowing. She couldn't say what she was thinking, it was such a strange thing to think about.

"Well, when are we startin'. I'm gettin' restless." She gave him a big smile right back, casually joking off her previous thoughts. She didn't want to think on them anymore, she was here with him now, if a walker happened by then they could deal with it. Laura could deal with it.

He wouldn't get bit, not when she was around.

"It ain't now, gotta' look for that little girl." He answered, Laura just nodded, "But that ain't what you're starin' for. You're a bad liar."

Laura scoffed, "An' what makes you think I'm lyin'?"

"You joke around when you got somethin' on your mind." _Dammit_. It was her diversion tactic, but it was obviously just making things worse. "Sometimes you bite your lip, other times you start frownin' real hard. Those just mean you're thinkin' about somethin' that's botherin' you, but it's the jokin' that tells me that you're lyin'."

Laura was frowning, she was doing it right now. She shook her head, "Gotta' stop readin' me so well. Else I'll never get away with nothin'."

"Ain't nothin' you need to hide from me, you got somethin' buggin' you, just say it." He wasn't even looking at her still, he was focused on the path ahead of them. Laura was unsure, she didn't want to be the girl who unloads years of baggage first thing. She told him about her parents, but those were mostly old wounds. She dealt with them a long time ago, but these things were new. Walkers, being bit, turning, hunting, the group, everything was so alien to her.

"I was..." Laura looked down and fiddled with the zipper of her jacket. "I just got to worryin'. 'Bout you bein' out here, alone, when there could be walkers. An' I know it's stupid to worry 'cause you are more then capable of takin' care of yourself, but... I dunno'. I'm just not used to carin' about somebody especially in a world where other people want to eat you. I mean, that just ain't right. So I worry."

"You worry 'bout me?"

It was a simple question, but it made Laura stammer. "W-well, kinda'. The walkers... you... Things happen y'know. You can't account for everythin'. I care, I really do, and don't want to have to find out you got bit or eaten." When Laura looked up, there was a grin on Daryl's face. It had been plastered there the whole time. "What?"

He glanced to her, "Ain't nothin', darlin'." He was actually reeling from her telling him she cared. It was the first time anyone ever said that to him, that they _cared_ about his safety. That wasn't Merle at least and even then.

There was Laura, a girl he just met a few days ago and had shared a few intimate moments with _caring_ about him. He liked the thought, he was enthralled by it. He kept hearing her say it in his head, she _cared_.

"Ain't nothin' my ass. Whatever, but that wasn't the only thing I was thinkin' about. If you're up to listenin' a little longer." He looked at her straight, giving her his answer.

"I was worryin' about you gettin' bit so much that I started to think... if you got bit... if I can actually help people after they turn... Would I revive you?" Laura hated the question, it sounded like she _wanted_ him to get bitten.

"What do ya' mean _would_ you? I ain't plannin' on gettin' bit or dyin' anytime soon, but if there was a way to survive bein' bit, that I would." Daryl shrugged, "Just ain't ready to roll over yet."

"I mean, think about it, I wouldn't be revivin' you to what you are now, you'd be like me." Laura pulled down her hood, she forgot she was wearing it again around the Greene family. "Would you really want to come back as a walker? You'll remember it all, everythin', that doesn't go away. I just wondered. Would you prefer to be undead or if you were bit and goin' to die, would you rather just pass instead of facin' everyday as part of the undead?"

Daryl was about to answer, but they broke the treeline to see an old farmhouse with a faded red roof. He pulled his crossbow into his hands and waved her along.

It was mostly just overgrown grass between them and the farmhouse and a few tall bushes. As they neared the house, Laura put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He looked to her hand, then to her.

"Let me go first, check the first floor for walkers." She stepped ahead of him, he was hesitant, but knew that if there were any walkers the only person they'd be biting was him. He nodded and followed her to the doors.

Laura swung them open and looked around. The hallway was clear, the stairs empty. She dodged into a room off to the left, it was almost completely bare. Whoever lived here before had went ahead and cleared out the house until there was just about nothing left.

So far neither of the rooms she checked had any surprises. Old walls, old furniture, and old fixtures. No walkers whatsoever.

She came back down the hallway to see Daryl entering a room off to the opposite side she checked. His crossbow aimed firmly ahead of him as he stalked the room. Laura just went in without a care, no walkers so far on the entire first floor.

Daryl had gone over to the trash can and picked something up, smelling it before pouring out the liquid into the trash. He brought his crossbow back up when he saw a door ahead of him. Laura stepped in front of it, halting him. She pulled it open and it was just a pantry with a few canned goods still inside.

He had noticed something she hadn't though, he pointed it out. It was a small pallet made out of worn blankets and pillows. It was just barely big enough for someone Sophia's size.

Laura smiled, that was real progression. They must've been on the right trail. The pallet on the floor looked newer then the rest of the house, it wasn't dusty and covered in dirt, it had been used recently. At least, within the last day or so.

Daryl left the floor after it was cleared, he went out the back door. "Sophia!" Laura turned and headed out of the building too, watching Daryl call for Sophia as he checked around the farmhouse.

He went around one corner of the house, calling for Sophia. He turned around and was going to the other side when he paused for a moment. He was looking at something but Laura didn't know what. He approached whatever it was he was looking at and Laura was close behind him.

Kneeling in front of a flower, Daryl picked one of the fully bloomed flowers and stood back up.

He didn't say a word the whole way back and Laura wasn't going to make him, he looked in deep thought, with that flower in his hand. He could read her well, but Daryl wasn't very good at hiding his own thoughts when they were so heavy that they distracted him so much so that he wasn't even paying attention to the path.

They made it back to the farmhouse fine, but he walked right up to the RV with the flower in hand. "Just gimme' a minute." He said before entering the RV.

Laura wasn't going to dote, he wanted some room and she was more then happy to give it. So she took a deep breath and went back to the farmhouse, making sure to pull her hood up before running into any of the Greene's.

She planned on making herself useful around the farm in anyway she could. Later on, she'd pitch her tent. For now, she found herself crossing paths with Glenn and one of the the Greene daughters on horseback. Glenn grinning like a monkey.

Laura shook her head and found everyone had set up their tents and all distracted elsewhere.

She bit her lip again, hating that Daryl was right, she did it whenever she was thinking hard about something. Right now, she was thinking about Sophia, the Greene family, and how the group was holding up.

Laura hadn't spoken to most of them since she told them about herself. She was hoping that was because she was busy with other things and they were too, rather then avoiding her.

Then, when she saw Lori exiting the farmhouse, Laura was about to head over to see if there was anything she could do. Lori looked up, saw Laura, and froze in place. Laura slowed down to a stop. Lori was alarmed, worried, about Laura approaching her.

Laura took the hint and backed away.

She saw Shane then, who was sending her a very stern look that just told Laura she shouldn't head in that general direction. _Ever_. So she turned around again and there was T-Dog.

She grinned, she liked T-Dog and he didn't seem so apprehensive about her when she told them. Neither had Glenn.

When she started walking to him, it was a whole different story. He did the same thing Lori did and froze up when he noticed her coming his way. He was about to drink some bottled water too, but stopped midway when his eyes caught her. He had pulled her away from Shane... but that was before she explained she was a walker at one point and still was to a certain extent.

Laura sighed and tried to look around, but there was the Greene family who Laura didn't feel particularly comfortable with just yet and everyone else wasn't exactly showing her hospitality.

Shane and Andrea were at a table, Andrea being one of the three people she could talk to. Rick was inside with Carl and Laura didn't want a repeat of what happened after leaving the CDC that day, so she stayed away.

Daryl was off being Daryl somewhere and she didn't think it a good idea to just hound him because he was one of the few that tolerated her.

She was being shunned by the group now. She accepted it, nothing new and something she could handle. When they were available, she'd talk to Andrea, Rick, or Daryl, whomever she could to find out if she could be useful to them.

Useful as in working around the farm and actually producing something of value rather then just walking into rooms with walkers and telling them what was where.

They had no use for her now though, nobody was keen on having her around on account of her walker state.

" _They are separating you, pushing you away so they can kill you later._ " Laura turned and left the camp quickly, the Voice was back again and it wasn't angry, but it was actually having a bad effect on her. " _Get them alone, just one of them, all it takes is a little nibble and you'll feel all better._ "

Laura shook her head quickly, trying to knock the thoughts out of her head.

When she heard nothing, no suggestions of cannibalism again, Laura slumped down at the base of a tree and just watched life go by. Enjoying how the humans went back and forth.

Andrea was wrong, at least partially, she wasn't one of them, she wasn't really human. More like a walker imitating human life.

She brushed her fingers along the hatchet at her hip, sitting and watching them all rush to and fro, they shunned her away and she ran away. Hiding under the shadow of a very large and very old tree.

There she would sit for hours until night came and everyone started packing it in and going to bed.


	22. As if it wasn't Bad Enough

When Laura found Daryl's tent, she pitched hers nearby and borrowed one of Dale's books to read.

She didn't spend the whole night in the tent though, after a few chapters of a book she didn't really like at all from the very beginning, Laura got bored and went for a walk.

It was dark out, there was a few lights on in the tents, but everything was mostly silent and still. Laura smiled, there was Dale on top of the RV keeping an eye out. Keeping her wits about her, she approached cautiously, she didn't want to get shot after all.

From what Daryl said, Dale didn't really mind her. He saw her mind, not her appearance, and was fine with it so long as she never displayed walker-like habits or did anything like a walker did.

Then again, Laura would rather them kill her if she somehow turned back to a walker or did things a walker did. She couldn't imagine herself _eating_ people, but that Voice in her head, the one that told her she needed to eat and they were food, showed her that she could eat other humans and went so far as telling her that she should.

Laura ignored it, for the most part. It came in handy when she fought off her father and escaped the men who took her. The Voice was there to keep her alive, to save her, and she would acknowledge it so long as it continued doing just that.

She climbed the ladder and saw Dale watching her.

"Hello again." He grinned, "What brings you up here so late?"

Laura shrugged and took a seat on the roof, overlooking the Greene farm. She loved the farm, it was just perfect to her. Open fields, clean air, and the group all safe and sound for the time being. "Just figured I'd take up watch, people need sleep y'know."

"That's right, you don't sleep, do you?" Laura was a little surprised at his straightforwardness, everyone else had beat around the bush with it.

"Yeah, that's right. I dunno' why, I just don't _feel_ tired anymore." She fiddled with her brace, "Why don't you get some sleep Dale? I can see better at night anyways and don't need sleep."

Dale nodded and looked out over to the farmhouse. "How about I keep you company? It can get lonely up here all night by yourself."

Laura smiled, "That'd be nice, but when you get tired, just go to bed. I can handle night watch."

"That's alright, I had a few things I wanted to ask you." Laura took a deep breath, she wondered if she could answer all his questions. "For one, I am very interested in your senses. Human senses can be so fickle, not working right at times, I started thinking about what yours must be like."

 _That's... different._ Laura expected a question about her eating people or any desire to bite them. Something not so... thoughtful. It was a pleasant surprise and one she was more then happy to answer. So long as it kept those other cannibal questions away.

"Well, before I turned I had to wear glasses my eyesight was so bad." She pinched the bridge of her nose, she could still remember wearing them. "When I woke up, I can see rather well and even at night like this, I see like it's the middle of the day."

"Really? Huh." He looked up to the sky and back to Laura. "What I wouldn't give to see at night. It'd definitely make traveling in the dark safer."

"Well, aside from my sight... I can hear very well. I don't really know how it compares to everyone else's anymore, but I can definitely hear better then I ever could before." Laura chuckled, "A whisper to you is normal speaking voice to me."

"So, does that mean I'm yelling to you?" Dale was speaking at a normal octave, Laura could tell, but it was louder to her. "Not really yelling... just talking loudly."

Dale leaned forward. "Well, when I'm talking to you, I'll speak softer, okay?" He was smiling as he spoke in whispers. It was relaxing to listen to a more calming voice. "I would appreciate that, but you don't have to."

"It's no problem." He leaned back into the chair.

"I don't really know about touch, that sense seems normal. Except that I heal slowly because my body doesn't work normally, so all injuries or just damage done lasts twice as long. I got bruises from weeks ago that still look brand new." She poked her side, "Taste... I don't know about that one. I haven't had a lot to eat with flavor so I can't really tell you. I know smell is sensitive, but I have no gag reflex to smell or taste anymore."

"That's interesting. I had thought that you would've lost smell and taste. They are delicate senses and people have lost them from overuse or even the lightest amount of injury." Dale shrugged, "I figured you'd have lost them too."

"Not from what I can tell. When we were around bodies, the smell that causes of all you to recoil, I don't. I just don't have that reflex anymore. Not sure why." Laura had an _idea_ why, but wasn't going to say it. It pertained to being a walker who ate food that smelled like rotting corpses and tasted them. A gag reflex would've made things difficult.

"That's very interesting." Dale smiled brightly at her, "Nothing else for now I'm afraid. I just got to thinking about the five senses and you popped into my head."

Laura fidgeted, "So, you're alright with me bein'... or havin' been a walker, yeah?"

Dale looked at her for a few minutes, scrutinizing her for something she didn't know. He looked in deep thought, his mouth tilted and he hummed to himself for a moment. "The way I see it, you have a mind of your own and have demonstrated that at every turn. Offering help when they went back to Atlanta, in the CDC you tried to talk Jenner out of locking us in too, and when Sophia ran you weren't far behind. I haven't seen you do anything that even suggests you were a walker before."

She bit her lip, "Yesterday, after I got back with Daryl, I wanted to help around camp, see if there was anythin' I could do to help. Make myself useful like that. But when I tried... everyone gave me this look that told me they were worried about me bein' around. I know Shane wants me dead, Andrea doesn't mind me though. Rick's okay with it and so's Daryl. Lori stopped when she saw me, looked at me like I was gonna' attack her. I went to T-Dog an' he did the same... With the Greene's around... I dunno'... I just keep wonderin' if I fit in here."

Dale was nodding the entire time, thinking about what she said. "You know, when I was with T-Dog and Glenn yesterday, we talked about you."

Laura perked up. "Really? What'd they say?"

"T-Dog wasn't too sure what to think about it, but mentioned that in Atlanta you were on the roof with him, you must've made a good impression because he said it made him change his mind. I don't know what you said to him on that roof, but he liked it." Dale chuckled lightly, "And Glenn... he said it was _cool_ , his words. That he didn't care at all, you helped them out and were alright with him."

"We didn't talk about much on that roof, but I liked him then too. He, Rick, and Glenn were the first people in the group I actually talked to. If they weren't so kind... I never would've come back with them." Laura remembered that roof, it was quite eventful. "I almost didn't after I met Merle. He was... somethin' else. But the way they all acted, how comfortable they were with each other an' how they protected their own... I wanted that. I wanted to be a part of that."

"So you came along." He finished for her. "Well, for what it's worth. I'm glad you decided to join us."

"Thanks Dale." She meant it, he was very relaxing to talk to. Dale seemed to know how to take things off her mind. Laura would make a point of seeing T-Dog and Glenn sometime in the day, she wanted to speak with them, tell them straight up what she was and that she understood if they were uncomfortable.

Ask for a chance.

"I think I'm going to turn in, Laura. If you don't mind of course." He got up from the chair.

"Goodnight Dale, don't worry about wakin' the next person for watch. I'll be up here all night." He patted her shoulder when he passed her, bidding her goodnight and heading into the RV for some much needed sleep.

Laura took the chair on the RV and sat there the rest of the night. Not a care in the world and not a thing on her mind.

It was bliss.

When morning came, Laura watched happily as the group got up one at a time. Rick and Shane were up early of course. Carol had gotten up and started laundry while T-Dog cooked breakfast for anyone who wanted it. Glenn was next, but he hadn't much to do and spent most of his time bouncing between people.

After another hour or so of watch, Lori had woken up to see Carol hanging out clothes to dry. She looked exhausted and Laura felt a little bad for her, she didn't know why, but that look on her face made her concerned.

Andrea and T-Dog were near Lori and Carol talking over breakfast.

Rick, Shane, and Daryl showed up. "Morning guys, let's get goin'. We got a lot of ground to cover."

Laura jumped up and got down from the RV as fast as she could, following behind Andrea and T-Dog as Rick stopped in front of the RV and pulled out that map again. "Alright, everyone's gettin' a new search grid today. She made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might've gone further East then we been so far." They were all surrounding the hood of the car, except Shane who opened the car door and took a seat.

"I'd like to help." Laura's head snapped into the direction of the new voice, it was one of the Greene's. "I know the area pretty well and stuff."

Rick gave him a questioning look, "Hershel's okay with this?" The boy nodded, "Yeah, yeah. He said I should ask you." They needed all the help they could get, "Alright then, thanks."

"Nothin' about what Daryl found is screamin' Sophia to me. Anyone coulda' been holed up in that farmhouse." _Of course_. Laura withheld her own retort. Shane had to go and try to make everyone doubt. "Anyone includes her, right?" Andrea remarked.

"Whoever slept in that cubbard no bigger then yay high." He gestured around Sopha's height. Laura remembered the nook, it was small and compact. No one around Laura's size could fit half their bodies into that. It had to have been a child.

"Good lead." Andrea commented, the group needed this to be Sophia's trail. "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again."

"No maybe 'bout it. I'mma' borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here. Get a birds' eye view of the whole grid." He pointed to an area on the map. "If she's up there, I'll spot her."

T-Dog nodded, "Good idea. Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too."

Laura looked between Daryl and T-Dog. _What is that about?_ "Chupacabra?" Rick was thinking the same thing.

"Oh, you never heard this?" Dale was digging through a bag he brought to them. "Our first night in camp Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." Dale handed Rick a rifle, all the while telling this story.

The Greene boy chuckled at this and all Laura could do was smirk at the boy. "So you believe in a blood sucking dog?"

"You believe dead people walkin' around?" That shut the boy up, instead of answering Daryl, he reached out for the rifle on top of the map.

Which Rick quickly took up, "Hey, hey. Ever fire one before?" Rick held the gun away from the boy, he looked young and far too anxious to get his hands on that rifle. "Well, if I'm going out, I want one."

"Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees." Laura chortled, she would like a slurpee. Daryl had left the group and was heading for the stables. Laura quickly caught up to him.

"So... about searchin' again today...?" Laura started, hoping he'd get the gist. He glanced at her. "Yeah, alright. Be on horseback today though, up for that?"

Laura smiled, "I've never ridden a horse, but I've always wanted to. I'm up for whatever." He nodded and lead her into the stables. Laura had only seen the horses the farmer's daughter rode, but in the stables, Laura felt like a little girl again.

Daryl had brought out one of the horses and saddled it, all the while Laura stared like a kid at a candy shop. She lived in the city, went to school in buses and cars, never owned a pet in her life, and lived alone. A horse was almost other-worldly. She'd seen only one other horse in her life and thought the world of the massive beast of burden.

He lead the horse out of the stable before mounting. Laura knew this part, it was simple. Approaching the left side, she put her left foot on the stirrup and swung her right leg over the hind of the horse, she removed her foot from the stirrup and held onto Daryl as he commanded the horse to go.

She immediately decided she _loved_ riding. The feeling of this powerful beast beneath her was more exciting then riding the motorcycle. She realized that Daryl probably picked up on her child-like wonder for the horses and while they were riding, but thankfully didn't point it out to her. A city girl, born and raised, out on farmland riding a horse.

It was a whole new world for her to be out here and she couldn't stop admiring it. The view, the horses, the cattle, the people; she loved it all.

They rode deep into the woods, but Laura was far too concerned with the horse and the farm to think about being lost in the woods alone. Her distraction was partially because the ride, the steps of the horse that swung her side to side actually pressed her firmly against Daryl's back and she thoroughly enjoyed that as much as she did riding the horse.

She never uttered a word though, too caught up in her perfect moment to even think about saying anything that could potentially ruin the experience. The woods were beautiful, the trees swaying in the breeze, not a cloud in sight, and it wasn't even that hot out. When they were in the vicinity of the creek she could begin to feel the cool air coming from the water.

Daryl fired an arrow making Laura jump a little. As they passed a tree, he yanked out the arrow with a squirrel impaled on the end. Laura hadn't been paying attention, she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts.

It wasn't until Laura loosened her hold on Daryl and actually looked at him that she scoffed at the sight of him. _Holy shit, sleeves. Where'd they come from?_ She was a little disappointed, she liked it when he was sleeveless. Which was all the time, except today apparently. She wouldn't complain though, she was sacrificing ogling Daryl _again_ for being on horseback with him.

It was a fair trade. She figured she'd see more of him later anyways, it wasn't like he made a habit of wearing sleeved shirts.

He slowed the horse down to stop and was looking down over the creek at something. He was pretty focused on it to. Laura tried to see what he was looking at, but lights played tricks on her eyes and she couldn't see anything worth staring at so intently.

Daryl dismounted, "Stay here, I'll be right back." He handed her the reins and walked towards the creek, leaving her on the horse.

She felt a little excited to be on the horse alone, but she wasn't going anywhere, so she just held tight and waited for him. He was careful going down the muddy slope, but made good time.

Laura could barely see him through the trees, he walked through the shallow part of the creek and had grabbed something. "Sophia!" He must've found something, Laura smiled, maybe Sophia was near?

After a few minutes, he came back up the slope and made his way to the horse. Laura could see a doll in his hand, "Is that?" He looked up at her on the horse, "Sophia's doll." That made her happy, it meant Sophia had come this way sometime. They were on the right track.

He got back on the horse and took the reins again, Laura grabbed him and they took off, following the creek closely.

Laura felt especially appreciative of Daryl right now and opted to lightly rub his back. He was tense, at contact he was usually tense, but this was different. Eventually, when she supposed he realized she wasn't doing anything harmful, he relaxed slowly. She went on to admire feeling him, it wasn't _dirty,_ it was a careful and affectionate massage. The best she could offer considering their positions.

"What're you doin'?" He finally asked, she assumed he would eventually. "Nothin'." She replied with a grin, continuing her ministrations.

He glanced back to her, "Why're you doin' that?"

"Doesn't it feel good?" She questioned, it was a massage, she hoped it felt good. Otherwise, the point of it was lost. He didn't move away from it and it took him a little bit to respond. "... Yeah." It was a quiet answer, perhaps he didn't want to admit it? Laura only grinned wider. "I just don't know why're doin' it."

"Is it too much to say that I'm doin' this out of appreciation and a bit of admiration? Or maybe I'm doin' it just 'cause I know it feels nice an' wanted to make you feel nice too." Laura moved onto his shoulders, he tensed again, but relaxed almost immediately.

"Why?" _Ask me why again... I swear this man._ Laura shook her head dismissively. "I need a reason more substantial then _I want you to be happy_ to give you a massage? You already know I worry about you sometimes, I care if you feel tired or bad, I just figured you deserved to feel good an' you do deserve it."

There was a huff, "... Just ain't used to it."

At that, Laura wrapped her arms around him tightly and held him against her. "Well, if we're gonna' do stuff together, you best get used to it."

"... Do stuff?" He was biting his thumb again and Laura looked at him oddly. _What is he..._ Laura's breath caught in her throat. "I wasn't meanin' nothin' like that!" She defended, "I would never..." Laura shook her head again, "I mean, I _would_ I think, but I'm not- I ain't plannin' this shit out. Y'know that. I was just makin' an observation!"

She could feel him chuckle, "You would though, with me?"

Laura felt her face burning, "I dunno'. Maybe." She whacked his arm. "Man, don't be makin' me think those things. I ain't the bossy girlfriend, I'm just sayin' things."

Daryl spared her a look, " _Girlfriend._ " It was weird hearing it coming from him, but the minute it did, Laura hid her face in his shirt. "Oh dear God..."

"Relax, girl." He scoffed, "I ain't sayin' I don't like the sound of it. Feel like a kid again, worryin' 'bout girls an' shit."

"I never really worried about boys, teenager or adult wise." Daryl turned in the saddle to see her face, "You're jokin', right?" He asked, turning back around to lead the horse.

Laura chewed on her lip for a moment before answering. "To be completely honest an' don't laugh, but I never had a guy in my life. No boyfriends, no men, I told you that when Micheal flirted with me that I wasn't used to havin' a guy dote on me."

"Yeah, I just figured you had a few men, didn't mean you were used to it, just ain't had many." It was a few seconds before he made another comment. "So you never..."

Laura looked at him oddly, he glanced down with his eyes. She looked down and back to him, still questioning. "Damn girl, you're so dense. You ain't never been with a man?"

She jumped at that question, she thought about it for a moment. _Did those men count...? Does he mean only with guys whom I given consent?_ She didn't answer him and he wasn't pressing her.

But Daryl did _not_ like how she clammed up. It wasn't like her, she usually answered everything rather quickly and even when she got nervous about something, she'd just make a joke about it or something else to get off the topic.

Yet she just _stopped_ in general. She didn't say anything else at all.

Daryl left it alone for the time being and for the first time was completely relaxed while she held him close to her. She was thrilled that he could be so lax around her. She felt proud of herself for getting him to do so.

A few times the horse got nervous and started backing away from certain things. A small flock of birds alarmed the horse to a stand still. Laura was a little concerned at this, she read that horses were prey animals and when in the fight or flight situation almost always took flight, but this was getting a little ridiculous.

The horse would stop at the slightest sound, jerk away when something moved. Laura held onto Daryl tighter as the horse really began to unnerve her.

Laura's fears came to life when the horse began to neigh and jump back, Daryl tried to calm it, but it only got louder and louder. She could make out something moving towards the horse on the ground, but it was enough to cause the horse to rear back.

The sudden rear threw both her and Daryl off the horse and went tumbling to the ground.

Laura felt the awkwardness of the ground, it was slippery and she kept falling until her braced leg got caught and yanked her to a stop, her once broken leg screamed in pain. The force snapped her body around and she felt her head connect with something solid.

And the world went black.

* * *

She was aware again, but she didn't want to open her eyes. Everything was numb and she couldn't feel anything.

Groaning, she mustered up the strength to open her eyes and look around. At first, all she saw was a branch in her face. She didn't have the energy to move around, she actually _felt_ tired now. Not in a sleepy way, but in a _I just got knocked out_ way. Laura huffed, _Of course this is what would happen the first time I get to ride a damn horse._

With a sigh, she reached up and, taking keen notice of her sore and hurting body, started to move the branch away. It was still connected above her. _Above me?_ Laura frowned and suddenly became very aware that she was lying upside down.

Looking down she saw the muddy slope and could see the creek down below. Above her, she'd fallen quite a ways, but she could make out the edge of the slope she'd fallen down.

 _Was having a good fucking day and this happens. Just my luck._ Laura growled and, in her annoyance, began to yank the branch. Only for it to tug on whatever it was that had caught her brace and it jostled her bad leg.

The shaking pulled at her bad leg. "AH!" She cried out, her leg was bad, it'd always hurt, but it the break had been damaged again. "Oh, fuck me." She let out a pained laugh, _It fucking hurt_.

Gulping, she tried to lift herself back up, but to no avail. The rocks at her back, the mud around her, and her leg caught in such a bad situation made moving extremely difficult. Especially after having been knocked unconscious.

She rubbed the back of her head, it was throbbing, but it wasn't too bad.

Laura tried to brace herself upright better on her elbows. It lifted her enough to see the angle of her leg, to see what it was caught on.

There were a few saplings bunched around the rocks beneath her. There was one slightly thicker and sturdier one that her leg was bent around. Her bad leg was hooked around this sapling, it was just barely holding on. One of the smaller saplings next to it had become lodged in her brace and it was holding her up for the most part.

Thankfully that smaller sapling was firmly rooted and so long as she didn't pull at it too much, it would continue to keep her up there.

She actually couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Laura needed to get upright, at least, to the point where she was no longer upside down. Then find some footing and pull herself up.

Taking deep breaths, she had to give it a shot or end up hanging there for who knows how long. She didn't want to be stuck on the slope for any longer then she had to in order to free herself and get off the slope. Rocking herself a little, she forced herself up onto her hands.

But they slipped, the slope was muddy, it was still wet in most places. She fell onto her back again, aggravated, she grabbed loose rocks and threw them behind her head. _That's stupid. Getting worked up won't get you out of here._ Laura growled to herself and tried to pull herself up again.

She was careful about it this time, checking to see if her hands could find purchase on the slippery slope. Brushing off a few places, she was able to get a better grip until she was finally leaning up and was able to see around her better.

Laura was quick and switched her right hand from bracing her upright and grabbed onto one of the saplings on her right. It was stable enough to support her.

Using her left hand, she unzipped her hoodie and yanked it off. She wrapped it around the sapling and used it to slowly pull herself up with both hands. She moved slowly, she didn't want to move to fast, the wrong pull, too much pressure, and she'd pull that sapling clean from the ground.

There was a sound near her, she could make out the strained grunts of a man. She couldn't see him, but she had remembered being on the horse with someone. _Who was it?_ Laura focused on the sound. _Daryl!_ She let out a breath of relief, if she could hear him then he was alive at least.

It wasn't until he came into view that he knew she was there. "Laura." Daryl could see her, but there wasn't a single way he could get to her. There was a bald spot on the slope between them. She looked over to him, he looked like hell and was carrying a walking stick. "Hey yourself." She grimaced, he looked around for a way to reach her.

He looked up, the slope was riddled with saplings, branches, and trees above her. He could get to her if he could reach the top. "Don't move, I gotta' get up there an' I'll come back for you."

She nodded, "As if I'm going anywhere." She gestured to her position, which she was very well stuck in.

Daryl started to climb again, trying to find his footing on the way up using the walking stick to help him up. He was nearing the top and Laura couldn't wait to get off this ridge.

She watched him as best she could, he kept trying to find some kind of footing, but every step he took now ended in him reversing to get his balance back. It was harder near the top, there was more broken and loose dirt there. The walking stick wasn't helping any more so he threw it away and tried to continue with just his hands.

When he jumped up to grab onto a vine, he lost his footing and began to slide backwards. Laura's eyes were wide, he tried to grab onto anything, but he just kept going back until he finally fell back down the slope. "Daryl!" She tried to move, but it wasn't working well. She couldn't move without risking tumbling down herself. "For fucks sake. Daryl! Can you hear me?!"

There was no answer and she couldn't see him, "You better be alive dammit! I'm ain't savin' your ass!"

Laura made a split second decision. She'd taken a good deal of physical abuse already, before and after she met the group. Falling down this slope wasn't going to kill her, it would most definitely hurt, but she would survive and all she could think about is what happened to Daryl. If he was alright.

So she started to pull her leg, it screamed in protest, but all that did was make her pull harder until the sapling finally gave way, tearing from the roots. She fell back with it and the force of her fall broke the small sapling holding her brace. Her weight pulled her leg loose and she went tumbling down the slope, meeting rocks, other saplings, and general rough terrain.

She felt herself go airborne for just a few seconds and then she was submerged in water. It was much deeper then the creek water she'd fallen into when chasing after Rick and Sophia.

There was a gap of time Laura lost after the fall, it wasn't a black out, she just couldn't _think_ or move, anything really. She was just _there_ and wasn't aware of anything, but she was awake.

When she began to regain her senses, she figured out what was going on.

Laura rested at the bottom of the water for a little while, she didn't need as much air as normal people. Her body didn't demand it of her, so she could remain underwater for quite some time before she felt the need for oxygen.

She did just that, the water was just as soothing as she remembered. It carried her, surrounded her, and lavished her abused body with gentle caresses. Laura wanted to stay there, just soaking in the water, but she came down the ridge for a reason.

After a few seconds of trying to work up the courage to get out of the water, she felt a pair of hands grab her and drag her out. She pushed herself up until she broke the water, the hands moved until they supported her weight.

It was Daryl, he was alive and seemed capable of holding his own if the two dead walkers at the edge of the water were any indication of that. They both got out of the water, Laura tripping over her heavy clothes and her bad leg.

Once they were out of the water, she could hear him panting. "What a day," She laughed half heartedly. "Started out fine an' all, then this happens. What fun." She groaned as she grabbed her leg and limped over to a fallen log, sitting down on it.

"You hurt?" He noticed her limp and came up to her, inspecting her for open wounds. Laura looked at him, his side was wrapped up in the sleeves he had worn. It was amusing to think he couldn't keep a sleeved shirt. He was bleeding and... he had _ears_ around his neck? Laura shook her head, she didn't care, she just wanted to get out of the woods. "Not too bad, need to dry out a little before climbin' that slope though."

Laura stood up shakily, he was right there, ready to steady her. She waved him off, Laura was able to do this on her own. Her shirt was soaking wet and they needed to get up that ridge soon, before they got too tired.

So she took the bottom of her shirt and pulled it off over her head. She spun it in her hands and rang it out, water poured from it like someone was pouring out a bucket of water. She was surprised the shirt held so much water.

She flipped her head down and did the same with her hair, trying to lighten the water so she could make the climb easier.

All the while Daryl stood, eyes glued to her. She was facing him and saw him staring at her. She didn't mind taking off her shirt in front of someone close to her, it didn't matter especially in this situation where if she had left her shirt and hair so heavy with water that it would make her life harder if she hadn't rung it out.

She got self conscious, the memory of how those men looked at her played in her head. She nearly smacked herself for thinking that way about Daryl, but he was looking over her, detailing her as if she was a piece of meat.

Laura decided she didn't like that look.

To counter him, Laura pulled her shirt back on and shook her hair loose. "Stop starin'." She felt a sharp sense of déjà vu and remembered the day in the woods before they left the quarry. This look he was giving her was a little different though, instead of curiosity, it was a mix between an extreme tensity and what looked like anger.

"You're bruised up real bad." He looked up from her torso and straight into her eyes. "Yeah, fall was pretty bad. Got banged up." She rubbed her back, diverting attention from her bruises. She hoped anyways.

He shook his head, "Don't lie to me." He pointed to her body and sighed agitated, "Dammit, girl, they ain't normal. That was a hand print, I could _see_ it an' it ain't in a place it should be."

Laura glanced down and shrugged, "It's just one of those things, y'know. Some collect stamps, other people collect coins, an' I just can't stop collectin' bruises. Some people right?" She smirked, she was _not_ going to discuss _that_ with him here, now, and possibly _never_.

Daryl's jaw tightened, he was thinking about something again. "Need to get outta' here, but this ain't over. I want an answer."

He turned around and went up to the slope, inspecting the bottom for the best place to start climbing. Laura did it her own way and went a little further from him and started her ascent. The ridge was tricky, but she wasn't hurt too bad that she couldn't make her way up.

They weren't too far from each other and even though Daryl was shooting her dirty looks when he could, Laura chose to ignore him for the most part. They couldn't get in the way of them climbing. With their injuries, climbing together was a _bad_ idea. It would only be two people stumbling over themselves. _Bad_ idea.

Laura was able to climb faster, she noticed. Whatever Daryl's injuries were, they were holding him back and were clearly related to the bloody area on his side. Her only hindrance was her leg, everything else was mostly fine, just knocked around. So she was more able bodied then him.

When she got hold of the edge and grabbed a nearby root to pull herself up, she felt so much relief not being stuck down there anymore.

Laura turned around and limped over to where Daryl was climbing up the ridge. He had a little difficulty near the top again, the loose dirt was still doing a number on him. So Laura took hold of a stable sapling and leaned over the edge, offering her hand.

When he looked up, her hand was just a few inches from him and he took it, grasping it hard. She did all she could to help pull him up, Laura grabbed onto his arms as he got higher on the ridge and pulled him up, her arms wrapped around his shoulder and side as he finally got up the slope.

He was in poor shape. He was bleeding, the pain from his wound was obviously causing a lot of distress. She wondered what he hit to cause such an injury. Then she remembered the walkers down below.

"Daryl..." She ran her hand gently over the bleeding wound. "Did you get bit?"

He was starting to get up on his feet, Laura steadied him when she could. He just looked down to see what she was focused on, the wrapped wound on his left side. "Fell on an arrow. Pulled it out." Laura jerked her hand away from the wound, if that was true, he would be getting stitches today.

"Come on, we need to get you back to the farm." She was limping worse then him, her leg was giving out more then she cared to admit. It wasn't because the break had gotten worse or had been rebroken, but because her brace had been snapped and there was a bit of the sapling still stuck on it. Her leg had no support anymore.

Daryl went around to her left side and took her arm around his shoulder, pulling her weight off her leg. It was a great relief, the pain subsided a little and she could walk without worrying about falling down. "Thanks, stupid brace broke." He glanced to the brace and saw the break, it was small and she knew it could be fixed, all she had to do it find out how.

He didn't answer her, but they kept moving, hoping to reach the farmhouse soon.

The walk felt longer then it actually was because of the struggle it took to reach the end of the treeline. When she saw the farmhouse she was anxious just to get in her tent and lay down. She couldn't stand being out there any longer then she had to be.

She got her arm down from Daryl's shoulder, she wanted to walk on her own again for now especially once she saw some of the group running up to them.

They were crossing the furthest field when she was able to make out the four figures coming at them. Laura could see it was Rick, Shane, T-Dog, and Glenn. Each one carrying some kind of weapon or another.

The group stopped in front of them and Rick brought up his gun. "Is that Daryl and Laura?" Laura blinked, couldn't they see it was her and Daryl? She looked at Daryl, he really did look worse then she thought at first. Blood was all over him, he was limping, injured, and looked about as pissed off as a hungry walker.

It clicked with her then, they thought he was a walker and no doubt her to. "About time you pointed that thing at my head." Daryl huffed, "You gonna' pull the trigger or what?" The group took a breath, they did think he was a walker.

Laura smirked, for the first time it was someone else who looked like a walker.

 ** _BANG_.** Laura flinched, it was a gunshot off from a distance. Daryl whipped back and fell to the ground. Laura was caught in a moment of shock before dropping down to the ground. "Daryl!"

"No!" Rick waved off the shooter, whoever it was. "No!" He and Shane came up to Daryl and checked him over.

Laura got back, they could handle this better then her. Instead, she found his crossbow on the ground and grabbed it. He was far too out of it to carry it himself.

He was still awake, alive, for the time being. He put a hand to his newest wound, the bullet that nearly killed him. T-Dog and Glenn came up behind her and lifted her off the ground, she had some trouble standing, but the two of them held onto her.

"I was kidding!" Daryl claimed while Rick and Shane got him off the ground, putting his arms around their shoulders. He went in and out for a few seconds before falling unconscious completely.

"Oh my God!" Laura saw Andrea and Dale running up, "Oh my God, is he dead?"

"Unconscious, you just grazed him." Rick answered, him and Shane were dragging him back to camp.

T-Dog left Laura's side for a moment and went behind them. He handed her off to Glenn who did his best to carry part of her weight as they made their way back to camp. "But look at him! What the hell happened? He's wearing _ears_!" Laura had thought the same thing at first, but didn't care one way or another.

Rick looked up to the farmhouse and saw the Greene family, he grabbed the necklace of ears and snapped it off of Daryl's neck, putting it in the pocket of his shirt. "Let's keep that to ourselves."

"Guys." T-Dog got their attention, holding up the doll Daryl found. "Isn't this Sophia's?"

They had all paused for a moment then looked at her. Laura sighed, "Can we get patched up first? This shit hurts y'know." Rick nodded and they made their way to the farmhouse again.

When they got to the Greene family where Hershel was standing, Rick didn't even have to say anything. "Inside, quickly." Hershel said, leading them inside the house and they took Daryl into a separate room with Hershel while Glenn followed Patricia into the next room and set her down on the bed.

Glenn and Patricia both helped her onto the bed, but after that she ushered Glenn out of the room.

She came back and looked over her. "Can you tell me what hurts?"

Laura ran her eyes over herself and chuckled, "How about everythin'?" Patricia smiled sadly, "Alright, my leg is the worst, the brace snapped, I need to get it fixed. My arms are sore, so's my back... But there's nothing really else as bad as my leg."

"Okay, I'm going to ask you take off your pants, I'll see if we have another pair for you later." She came around to the side of the bed. "I'll help you, but I need to be able to work around your brace as best I can until we can get it repaired."

Laura agreed and while she noticed the looks she kept getting from Patricia, the woman still helped her.

All the while Patricia checked over her lesser injuries and tended to her bag leg, Laura kept Daryl's crossbow near her. At all times.

She wondered how he was doing, Rick said the bullet grazed him, but even a graze can cause some bad complications. Laura would continue to worry until she spoke with him, heard it from his mouth that he was going to be just fine.

Her only comfort for now was his crossbow at her side.


	23. A Little Honesty Never Hurt

When Patricia finished tending to her less serious injuries, cuts and bruises, Hershel had come in to deal with her leg.

It was unpleasant, she remembered screaming at a few parts, but when all was said and done, Laura felt a lot better. Her leg had been messed up rather bad and once Hershel set it straight and gave her medicine, Laura finally relaxed.

It had been a long and trying day, she was hurting all over and all she could think about was how Daryl was doing. He'd gotten hurt worse then her, stabbed by one of his own arrows, fell down the ridge _twice_ , nearly eaten by walkers, and then shot.

Laura sighed, she felt a little lazy now. All she had was an old broken leg that was healing, the fall and the sapling that grabbed her had nearly broke it again, but all it did was tear a few tendons, pull her muscle, and cause old wounds to open up. She fell down the ridge slower then Daryl, having been stopped once a little ways down then actually _choosing_ to fall the rest of the way.

 _The hell was I thinking_? Laura rubbed her temples, the medicine she had taken got rid of her throbbing headache. _You wanted to find him alive, that's all. You're just stupid enough to fucking_ fall _down and hurt yourself for it._

After hours of sitting awake, alone, in the room Hershel provided, Laura had already become antsy. She never liked sitting still, being closed up in a room reminded her of when her father locked her in a room, sometimes the attic, and she _hated_ it.

Hershel entered the room right when it got particularly bad, a few tools in hand. "You're lucky I know a thing or two about these kind of braces." He told her, coming to the left side of the bed and kept her leg straight while he tinkered with the broken device.

"How do you know so much about braces? They ain't common." She watched him work, he seemed to know what he was doing. "I took the time to learn about them when Maggie was young, very adventurous. She had gone out to play in the creek one day, against my wishes of course, slipped and broke her leg." He looked at her, "I ended up learning how to put on leg braces and how to fix a broken one."

"Well, sorry about Maggie gettin' hurt, but I'm thankful that you know this stuff." Laura scoffed at herself. "'Cause I don't know the first thing about braces. I know I wear one, but I don't know anythin' beyond that."

"We heard from the man himself, Daryl, what had happened, but he said he didn't know what happened to you." Hershel commented, but Laura knew it was a question.

"The horse got spooked an' threw us off. Another thing I have no knowledge of is horses. My first time on one an' I get tossed like a toy." She couldn't believe her luck. "We both fell over the ridge, but my leg got caught an' it broke my brace. I was knocked out an' when I came to, I was stuck. I tried to get free, but I couldn't risk fallin' an' gettin' hurt worse."

"Judging by the damage, I'd say that getting caught in mid fall did more damage then good." Hershel twisted someone on the brace that made Laura jump, it pinched her. "Just tightening a bolt. Go on."

"Okay, well, tryin' to find a way out, Daryl comes climbin' up the slope an' he can't get to me from where he was, so he had to keep climbin' 'til he could find a way to get me." There had been a big blank spot between them, it was all mud and he couldn't reach her from where he was. "But right before he got to the top, he lost his footin' an' fell again. After I saw him fall, I tried to call out to him, but I didn't get an answer."

Laura started to laugh at herself now. She probably caused more harm being out there today then actually helping. "I kept wonderin' if he got hurt, if he was dead, so I got myself free an'... well... fell the rest of the way. I must've blacked out or somethin', because next I knew I was bein' pulled out of the creek by Daryl. After that, we took a breather an' headed back up the ridge. When we made it, we came straight back to camp. Simple as that."

"I told him this and I'm going to say it again to you, just to be clear. I did not give consent for people to borrow my horses or take Jimmy out searching." Hershel started to put away his tools, "I would appreciate you not taking things that aren't yours anymore."

Laura nodded, she thought he did know about the horse and Jimmy, he said Hershel was alright with him going out searching. "I- I'm so sorry. I really am. The boy told us you knew an' were alright with it. If I'd have known..."

Hershel smiled at her, "I understand, just don't let it happen again. Alright?"

"Absolutely, again, I'm sorry about all this. Didn't mean to be a burden." He picked up his supplies. "It's alright now, just be glad you both made it back in one piece."

"Of course, thank you Hershel." Laura leaned back on the headrest of the bed after Hershel left her alone. _Jimmy... That liar._ She rubbed her eyes, moaning slightly.

Laura grabbed the crossbow that sat next to her on her right side and put it on her lap, content knowing it was there with her. It was strangely comforting and no one was going to take it from her, she would refuse to part with it until she got up and gave it to Daryl herself.

A little while after Hershel left and Laura was resting with her head back against the headrest and her eyes closed, Rick came into the room with Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, and Dale.

She didn't move though, she was comfortable and didn't want to move at all.

"Laura?" Rick asked quietly, taking a seat on her left. "What?" She groaned, still not moving.

"How're you feeling?" She scoffed at him, "Rick, if I felt any worse I'd ask you to put me down." She was grinning, he knew she was joking. Laura lifted her head and opened her eyes to see the group in the room.

Dale came up on her right, "Hey, I just wanted to see how you were. Heard you had a nasty fall."

"Nasty doesn't begin to cover it, but eh, I'm makin' a bigger deal 'bout it then it really was. I'm gonna' bury that fuckin' horse in the ground." She laughed lazily, "I am assumin' y'all got a better reason to be here rather then just seein' how I'm fairin'?"

Rick nodded, "I wouldn't say it's a better reason, but we wanted to discuss something." She shrugged, she was willing to talk. "Daryl told us where he found the doll," He had that map with him and pointed out where the ridge was. "He said he found it here and you both worked your way up the creek onto the ridge. I wanted to ask you something."

Laura felt a little bit of doubt creeping up on her. "Oh yeah, about what?"

"Daryl came back wearing ears, he looked like a walker, we were ready to shoot him and you. We need to know something right now." Laura was paying full attention now, Rick looked a little out of place asking her this. Whatever it was. "Did anything happen out there... did you or Daryl get bit?"

"Don't chicken out now man," Shane spoke up from the other side of the room. "Did you bite 'im? Infect him?"

Laura's face went red, "Are you fuckin' serious?"

"Shane, that's not what we discussed." Rick snapped at the other man, "But you're thinkin' it. Face it, we all are. One time she goes out there alone with one of our own an' he just so happens to come back in _that_ kinda' shape. Man, it's lookin' a little more then suspicious."

"Rick," Laura looked at him, then to the others, T-Dog and Glenn in the room. "Guys, you can't be serious about this?"

Glenn shook his head, "T and I were actually coming in here to see if you were okay, we don't know anything about this." He defended them both, they two of them backed off from the scene before them. "Yeah girl, I don't think you'd do somethin' like that." T-Dog made his opinion known, but all that did was make Shane scoff at them both.

"Might want to get that thing away from her before she gets someone else." Shane stood at the foot of the bed, "I bet you were out there just waitin' for a chance to get the jump on him."

Laura was speechless for a few moments, just staring wide eyed at Shane. "Rick, you can't think that, you don't, right?" She broke her gaze from Shane to send Rick a pleading one.

"I don't, in fact, I thought I told you we'd discuss this later. So I can clarify things for you, Shane." Rick seemed pissed off with Shane for accusing Laura.

"Rick, she got him alone and he just so happens to come back lookin' like that? Right before he passed out man, you remember what he said?" Rick turned away from Shane and glared at the ground beneath his feet. "You remember what he said?" Shane urged.

"Yeah, I remember."

Laura glanced between them. "What did he say?" She was actually worried, had Daryl said something that compromised her? Would he do that? She gripped the crossbow tighter. He wouldn't... right?

"He told us where he found the doll, talked about where y'all were headed." Shane explained, "He was fallin' asleep, man was exhausted so much so when we were leavin' he could barely stay awake. Y'know what he said? He said there was a walker nippin' at his boot, tryin' to eat him, then he asked for you." Shane pointed at her, "He talked about a walker tryin' to eat him and then he asks for _you_."

"There were two walkers, he dealt with them. By the time he got me outta' the creek they were already dead." Laura was furious and hurt. "An' I've been alone with him before. Hell, I spend most of my time with Daryl! We're almost always alone dammit!"

"And you took your chance! You've just been holdin' out, gettin' our trust so when somethin' happened we wouldn't think it was you. You've planned this." Shane spat. "Don't hold out on us, you've had plenty of chances, haven't you?"

"Shane-" Rick started, but Laura cut him off. "How the hell am I supposed to know? I don't pay attention to that kinda' stuff!"

"That's enough!" Rick stood, demanding the attention of everyone in the room. "Shane, wait outside. I'll be along in a minute, we'll _talk_ then."

Shane huffed, shaking his head in disbelief and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Laura, I'm sorry about Shane." Rick came back to her quickly, sitting beside her. "Are you thinkin' it?" Laura asked, not looking at any of them. "Is that why you came up here, to see if I tried to eat Daryl?" She was glaring at him now.

"No, no. Laura, _no_." He put a hand over hers on the crossbow. "I came up here to see how you were doing and see if either of you had gotten hurt, bitten. I'm concerned more about Daryl then you, I know walkers don't go after you, but we can't really move him without doing more harm. I wanted to _ask,_ not force an inspection on either of you. Least of all Daryl who is in pretty bad shape."

"You know if I get bitten I don't turn. From what I saw Daryl had a close call, two to be precise, but he wasn't bitten. I asked him that myself when I saw he got hurt." She shrugged, "I didn't see any bites, the only wound I saw on him was his side, which he told me he got stabbed with one of his arrows."

"Alright, I'm going to take both of your words on this. I trust you, both of you. Daryl seems like the kind of man who would tell us outright if he was bitten, I just needed to be sure." Rick patted her hand before standing up. "I'll send someone up with dinner, goodnight Laura."

"Night Rick." She smiled at him as he left her alone with T-Dog and Glenn. "So, what's up guys?"

"Just checking in on you. I could've sworn you were a walker when I saw you out there, Daryl too." Glenn grinned, "It's a good thing Rick told us to wait, I don't want to know what would've happened if we didn't stop."

"I don't either, but then again, it's not hard to confuse me with a walker." She rolled her eyes, the unnatural white iris and black sclera's.

"I actually came up here to tell you anythin' you need girl, just call." T-Dog ran a hand over his head, "I wasn't exactly... right around you the other day. I knew it too, but we had a bad day with a walker and, I don't know, just got a little jumpy is all."

"I understand, just... don't let it happen again, huh?" She joked, jabbing T-Dog with her finger, earning her a laugh from the two guys. "You bet. Remember, anything you need, just call. Happy to help."

"Yeah, same here." Glenn spoke up, "Get some rest, you need it."

"Alright, guys. I bet dinner will be done soon, so hurry up, don't let it get cold." She waved them out the door and they left, thankfully, on a good note. Laura didn't want to be on their bad sides, she really did like them. They were good people, it was a shame Shane thought so little of her.

She leaned back, it would be a long night sitting alone and awake in the house.

However, she had some more company stop by. Carol came in with a plate of food, it smelled like heaven to Laura, who hadn't eaten in over a day. She took a deep breath in, smelling the aroma wafting through the room.

"I wanted to bring you dinner. Thought you might be hungry." Carol spoke softly and Laura set the crossbow down at her side, taking the plate from Carol happily. "I am very much so, thank you Carol."

"I know we've never spoken, but you've done so much for my little girl. You and Daryl both." She offered a sweet, sad smile to Laura. "I already told him this, but I am really thankful you both have you here with us."

"Carol... I'm just doin' what I think is best, I ain't doin' nothin' special, really." Laura sighed, "I even feel a little bad. I mean, every time we go out I'm always thinkin' about other stuff, stupid stuff, when I shoulda' been focusin' on findin' Sophia. Maybe if I paid more attention we could still be out there lookin'."

Carol sat next to Laura on the bed carefully, being mindful of her leg. "You've worked so hard for me and Sophia. You could have died out there today, both of you. So don't think you aren't doing as much as you can for her, for me. I can't thank you enough."

"Thanks Carol." Laura grinned to the woman who just patted Laura's shoulder, "Now eat up, you need your strength. Goodnight Laura." Carol left the room and Laura instantly felt better after having spoken to Carol.

She was such a kind soft spoken woman, her voice was calming and made Laura feel better.

Laura _devoured_ her dinner, when the plate was empty, Laura _licked_ it clean. She was hungry and the food was most satisfying. Even Shane accusing her of cannibalism couldn't ruin her good mood anymore, she was relaxed, _happy_. Rick didn't think about her like Shane did, but she knew that already.

T-Dog, Glenn, and Carol all showed that they didn't think of her like that either. She was sure there may be some nervousness in the future, a little flinching, but that was all things she could work with. It was them thinking she would hurt them that bothered her.

The only person left was Lori now, Laura didn't want to create any animosity between her and the woman. She is Rick's wife and Laura _wanted_ to be kind to her, show her the same generosity that Rick had given Laura from the moment they met.

For the rest of the night Laura didn't do anything, she just rested up, waiting for the throbbing in her leg to stop. For a long while it did and she just laid in bed with the crossbow in her hands.

* * *

When morning came around, Laura had a visit from Patricia with breakfast. She ate hungrily and once she was done, Patricia took her plates away after checking Laura's injuries again. The woman also left a clean set of clothes for her, to which she was determined to get up and put them on.

She felt the need to get up and move around, her brace was repaired and strong as ever, so she shouldn't have too much trouble moving around camp at least.

So Laura swung her legs over the edge of the bed and, very slowly, eased her weight onto her feet again. Her left leg ached and screamed out when she put too much weight on it. She would be limping, but she supposed it would be worse if she didn't have her brace.

If Hershel hadn't repaired her brace, she wouldn't be able to walk at all for a long time.

Shuddering at the thought, it only urged her to get up more. Cautiously, she stood up and remained still for a little while, trying to keep her balance in check. When Laura looked down, she realized she wasn't really decent.

Limping to the vanity on the far side of the room, Laura grabbed the shirt. It was a light blue short sleeved shirt with a low v-neck with a little design decorating the plunging neckline. It wasn't revealing, but it would show more of her old bruises then she cared to. _Not like I have much of a choice._ Laura pulled the shirt on, it fit nicely, however, due to Laura's period of starvation, she was unnaturally thin. She gained some weight, but not enough to be seen as healthy.

Sneering at herself, she could see her bones still showing. It was no where _near_ as bad as it had been, that little bit of food she's had in the last few days actually made a difference, but she had a little way to go.

It seemed Patricia was minding Laura's leg and had claimed a pair of worn pants that had seen better days, they were at one time or another white, but were dirty and stained now. Patricia had cut off the left pant leg to make room for Laura's brace, she reminded herself to thank the considerate woman later.

Laura smiled, dressed finally. She didn't look so bad, her bruises and walker-like appearance was the only thing that made Laura look abnormal. She sighed, _Stop lying to yourself._ Laura groaned loudly, she looked terrible. The clothes were nice, but she wasn't so lucky.

Her unnatural eyes, her skin tone, the discoloration, and on top of all that the bruises that would be with her for some time to come. She wanted to heal faster, to heal normally so the bruises would go away and stop looking so disturbing.

She didn't exactly want to put herself on display for everyone, but she didn't have much of a choice. For a moment, Laura wondered where her jacket was, the black jacket that had kept her walker past a secret from the group beforehand.

Then she remembered she had tried to use it to pull herself up in the woods yesterday when she got stuck, but it hadn't worked and she lost her jacket. She'd have to go outside openly.

Laura went back to the bed and took the crossbow, swinging it over her like she'd seen Daryl do so many times before. She felt infinitely safer with it near, she could barely use it, she got lucky with the squirrel in the woods, but no one else knew that and she would play it off like she was familiar with the weapon.

Laura bit her lip and began to limp out the door of the bedroom. She could walk a little awkwardly, but she felt capable of some distance.

When she got outside, she could see the camp already alive with movement.

Rick, Shane, and that Greene boy Jimmy were at the hood of the Cherokee again. Glenn and Lori were talking by the camp site. She couldn't see Dale or T-Dog and she assumed Andrea was nearby.

Laura wanted to check in on Daryl, see how he was doing after both his falls and his close calls with the walkers then being shot. He got hurt pretty bad and Laura felt a little responsible for it. She wondered if she had paid more attention that they wouldn't have been thrown off the horse, or if she acted faster when she was stuck on that ridge if Daryl would be in as bad of shape as he was.

She limped into camp, looking around at the busy people going to and fro.

"Hey," Glenn approached her first, a basket of peaches in his hands. "Have some fruit, they're really good." She accepted, taking the state fruit from the basket, having a bite of the succulent fruit.

"Thanks Glenn, these are really good." She smiled, licking her lips. The peach was as sweet as sugar. "Do you know where Daryl's restin' up at? I wanna' give him his 'bow back." She gestured to the crossbow on her back.

"Oh yeah, he moved back into his tent this morning." He nodded over to Daryl's tent, "He's not too happy about being laid up." He snickered, "See you around, Laura."

"See ya' Glenn." She stole another peach from the basket before he left and went straight to Daryl's tent.

Taking a deep breath, she could make out Daryl on the cot in his tent. "Knock knock." She opened the flap and stepped into the tent. He was twirling an arrow in his hands. "Came by to see how you're holdin' up."

She sat on a cot opposite to him, "And to return this." She pulled the crossbow off her back, holding it in her lap. "Wondered where that went." He answered, eyeing the crossbow in her lap.

"Seriously, Daryl, how are you? You took one hell of a beatin'." She sighed, being mindful of her own injury as she scooted back on the cot until she was comfortable.

"Ain't no better then you, I suppose." He glanced over her. "'Cept on top of everythin' that happened out there, you also got shot." Laura pointed out, she could see the wound on his head now. It just _barely_ missed. She felt her chest tighten, he nearly died more times then she cared to count.

He shrugged it off, "What 'bout you?"

She grinned, "Eh, can't complain. Nearly snapped my leg in half, but other then that I was lucky enough to have your crossbow to keep me company." He huffed at her, "An' here I was worryin' I lost it."

"Nah, you just dropped it when ya' got shot. I picked it up an' kept it safe. Don't worry, I took good care of your beloved crossbow." She chuckled, patting the weapon on her lap.

She actually needed to talk about what Rick and Shane had said last night when they visited her. About the walker biting him. She needed to know now if he had gotten bitten, because she honestly didn't know and while Rick was right, Daryl did seem like the kind of person who would actually say something about it, she couldn't be sure.

Laura just didn't know how to say it. She wanted to talk about it, but she didn't want to sound like she was complaining.

"Ya got that look on your face again." He stated with a softer expression. _I guess nearly dying buttered him up_. She smiled inwardly.

"We need to talk about somethin'." The moment she said that she could see him go on guard, he was tenser. "Rick and Shane came to see me last night after Hershel patched me up. They were sayin' somethin' about you sayin' that a walker was bittin' your foot." She leaned forward, over the crossbow. "Daryl, please tell me you didn't get bitten."

Daryl relaxed instantly, "Nah, it was tryin', but it was just chewin' on my boot so it didn't get far. Boot's too thick for it, I wasn't bitten."

"Okay, good... There's somethin' else. Last thing I promise." She clasped her hands together in front of her, "They said the last thing you said before passin' out was about a walker nippin' at you an' then... you asked 'bout me. Shane asked... well, he just downright told me he thought that I tried to... 'cause of what you said... Daryl, did you tell them I tried to _eat_ you?"

Daryl made a sneer. "I never said that." He growled, "I asked if you were alright, that's all. I said somethin' about the walkers that tried to get me, but I _never_ said nothin' about _you_ tryin' to bite me. Ignore Shane, he's just an ass."

Laura released the breath she'd been holding. "I just needed to hear it that's all. I didn't think you would, I mean, I _didn't_ try anythin' like that, but I had to hear it from you."

"Don't even think about it, I know you wouldn't do nothin' like that." Daryl was being _comforting,_ which Laura figured was a new thing for him. If his nervous ticks were any indication of this.

Laura slid off the cot and glanced out the tent, making sure no one was close enough to see them. She kneeled in front of the cot Daryl was on and leaned over him.

He just laid there and watched her, a slight twitch of a smile on his face. She put her hand on his cheek, being as gentle as she could and leaned down, giving him a very light kiss before pulling back. She was so worried about him, his injuries could've killed him, Andrea could've killed him. He had cheated death time and time again. Laura was relived to see him here in better spirits then she expected to see him in.

"I was so worried about you, when you fell down that ridge for the second time." She kept her hand on the side of his face, treating him as if he was fragile glass. "I called out to you, but I didn't get an answer. I thought you'd... I didn't want to think about it. So I came down for you."

"That how you ended up in the water? I saw you fall, but you were pretty damn well stuck up there." His brow furrowed, he wasn't stopping her from running her hand on his face, he was even leaning into it a little bit.

Laura smiled, "Yeah, I broke free an' fell the rest of the way after you. I was almost knocked out again, but by the time I was able to move again, you were pullin' me out of the water."

"Stupid girl, nearly got yourself killed." He was frowning now, "Shoulda' just waited. I was fine, plannin' to come up to get you."

She shook her head lightly, "Well, I guess I'm suicidal then, 'cause I did come tumblin' down that ridge for you. Found you though, didn't I? _Alive._ I almost couldn't believe it, especially after I saw those walkers on the ground. I thought you got bit... an' we never finished talkin' about whether or not if you got bit that I should try an' bring you back."

"I'd prefer to live, if you don't mind." He smirked, "So long as you don't let me eat no one. I'd be fine with comin' back."

"That settles that then." She smiled widely and felt his own hand on her back. She leaned in again, sharing a careful kiss with him that was requited as best he could in his position.

"Still one thing on my mind." He broke apart. She had her eyes closed and was close enough to feel his breath on her face. "I told you I wasn't goin' to let it go. Those bruises, where'd you get 'em?" He asked quietly, as if it was some big secret.

Laura lifted herself away from him and looked at him long and hard. "I ain't ready to talk about that with you yet."

"With me? You talkin' to someone else then?" He prodded, he was being careful with the topic, but he wasn't about to let it go. "Well, one person figured it out pretty quick, the other I told straight up."

He scratched his face, "But you ain't tellin' me."

"I don't want you to know." She answered lowly, averting her eyes from him completely.

It was a few minutes of silence before he broke it again. "Y'know, when I told you that I ain't stupid, I meant it." He reached out for her, it was a very reluctant action, but he still managed to take her hand up and carefully pulled her back to him. "Someone did you wrong."

He was stern, his jaw tightly set and his face conveyed a certain level of hate, but it wasn't directed at her. "Yeah..."

His hand came up to her face, he was uncomfortable with so much contact, she could tell, but he was doing it for her. To convince her to tell him. "Tell me."

Laura frowned, chewing on her lip viciously. She could say _why_ she didn't want him to know, she felt like she had been used up and thrown aside, that if he knew how people treated her then he would treat her the same. Laura _knew_ that wasn't true though, she knew Daryl had been nothing but good to her so far. He wouldn't harm her unless she brought harm to the group.

"It was just after I got away from my father, when I broke free. I stayed with the herd of walkers for a little bit, but then I went into the convenience store nearby." She took another deep breath, it was shaky and didn't do much to calm her down. She told Andrea this, she saw Rick's face when he found out. _Why is telling him so different?_ "When I got inside, there was a man in there. He put a gun to my head an' took me to his small group made up of four men. I was stuck there for days, they... did rape me that entire time, but I got away. One of them got eaten by a herd of walkers, but the others got away."

Daryl was _beyond_ tense. He looked ready to tear apart camp, his hand on her face was rigid and there was definite pressure there, but he didn't move for a little while. Laura was the first to move though, she put her hands on the edge of the cot and slowly, cautiously, laid her head on him, her hands gripping the edge of the cot.

He didn't say anything for a while, it was like someone had smacked him with a stop sign. He utterly refused to do anything, until Laura felt him grab onto her, his arms around her as she just stayed near him. He was actually _holding_ her, but she wasn't crying like she had done with Andrea when she told the kind woman. She just remained still, she could touch him without putting pressure on his wound, so she didn't.

"Ain't nothin' gonna' happen to you again." Gradually he held her tighter, until she was firmly pressed against him. She knew he must be hurting, but he didn't seem to care at this point. "You're my woman now an' I ain't gonna' let anyone touch you like that. Never."

He spoke forcefully, he was angry that someone had caused her that pain and knew she had been dealing with it this entire time. It hadn't happened too long ago if the intensity of the bruises on her were any indication of time. "Your woman?" She smiled against him.

" _Mine._ " He ground out, it was more of an assurance then force. He was actually _concerned_ about her. "Are you... hurtin' still?"

She shrugged as much as she could with him holding her so tightly, "A little, it ain't bad anymore. Mostly I just feel a little stiff an' a bit sore sometimes. Like I said though, it ain't bad."

"Don't care, you're stayin' my sight from now on." She was still grinning, she really liked this new protective side of Daryl. "You'll be keepin' my crossbow with you 'til I'm up. Then you're stayin' with me."

"You won't hear me complainin'." Laura lifted her head to see his face, watching his eyes burn with such intensity that made her feel fear for the men who took her, if they ever crossed paths again. "I really do care about you a lot, y'know."

"I know." He answered, his grip on her relaxing a little. She nodded, "Good, you better."

She could sit as she was for a long time, Laura had no qualms about remaining there until he could get up and move again.

Unfortunately, she had wanted to do some good today with the group. Instead, she ended up spending most of the day with Daryl in his tent before heading out. He protested, but she said that while she was able bodied enough, she would do something useful.

Laura made a bee line for the trees, she didn't go far into the woods, just enough to see the farmhouse between the trees.

And she spent the rest of the day teaching herself how to shoot a crossbow and even managed to get herself a few kills. A rabbit and two squirrels. She didn't mind the meat, other people did, but she actually rather liked it.

Better then nothing after all and before camp, that's pretty much all she had.

Squirrel was looking pretty good after months of nothing.


	24. What Walkers do in their Spare Time

Laura spent _hours_ with the crossbow, just trying to teach herself how to use it and she definitely showed a knack for it. She was capable of hitting a moving target, she missed plenty of times, most of the time actually, but she slowly began to progress in her understanding of how to use a crossbow.

While Daryl was laid up and the group mostly stuck to camp, Laura made her own work. They all seemed to have a lot of private work going on too, a few of them looked especially distressed and Laura was not up for drama. She had too much of her own to work on and she was sure some of them wouldn't take too kindly to a walker asking them about their troubles like some kind of twisted Doctor Phil special.

She rolled her shoulders, unused to the weight of the crossbow. Carrying and holding it up was easy at first, but over time she felt the stress it caused on her already very sore and hurting muscles.

Ignoring the protests of her aching joints, Laura continued on with her training. She had gotten the hang of using the crossbow, but every time she would miss, Laura got a little more agitated with it. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, like she'd just walk out here, fire off a few bolts, and suddenly know everything about the crossbow, but even with that knowledge she still hated taking it slow.

By the time she felt she had enough training for the day, she threw the crossbow over her shoulder and headed back into camp. There was no doubt going to be search groups out again today and Laura wanted in.

She looked down to her leg, the brace was working fine again, she could walk with a limp that wasn't really noticeable and she didn't feel anything but a dull throb every now and then.

Once she got back into camp, she tried to seek out Rick or Glenn, see who was heading out today and if they needed help or backup.

She saw Carol, Dale, Lori, and Glenn at the campsite. She didn't want to go near Lori, it was clear Laura's presence had a tendency to unnerve the woman and Laura understood that, so she kept her distance.

The smell of cooking meat surrounded Laura and she smiled, she could go for some good meat.

Carol was dishing out a plate for herself and Laura went up to her. She couldn't look Carol in the face. "Is there plenty to go around?" Laura was hungry and was hoping there was enough for others. Carol smiled at her, "Of course, here," Carol went over to the pan where the meat was cooking with an empty plate. "Oh, you don't have to. I was just askin'." Laura fidgeted with her hands. _  
_

She served up two pieces of chicken and handed the plate to Laura. "It's the least I can do." Carol had such a sad smile on her face, one that broke Laura's heart. She just nodded, "Thank you Carol."

 _Why can't I look at her?_ Laura winced at her own actions, she knew why, she just didn't want to admit it.

The woman took up her own plate and went to sit and eat. Laura took a chair near where the fire was the night before. She hadn't had chicken in a long time and it tasted fantastic.

The flavor was very strong to her, she could taste everything. It was bright, a little dry, and there was a definite slight burn on one side. Laura quirked a brow, that was the answer to Dale's question. She'd never noticed so many flavors before, but it was obvious that her taste had heightened as well as her eyesight. It was very sharp, she could taste everything about the chicken, which was weird to her.

Done with her plate, she crumpled up the used paper plate and tossed it in a plastic bag which served as a trash bin.

"Hey Glenn." Laura stayed a few feet away, he was chopping wood and it wasn't a good idea to get too close to a man swinging an ax. "You know where Rick is?"

Glenn took a quick look around, "Uh, I think he was with the others talking about heading out to look for Sophia... He's probably still by the cars." He pointed over to the parked cars.

"Thanks Glenn." She waved to him and left for the cars. She was going to go out today, yesterday was a disaster and it wasn't going to hold her down. Nothing was stopping her from moving around and her injuries were minimal.

Right when Laura rounded the SUV, she saw Rick at the hood of the Cherokee again, looking over the map. There was no one else near him and for a moment Laura thought he wasn't going out to look.

"Rick?" Laura put a hand on the Cherokee's hood, he looked pretty focused on the map. "Laura, hey. How're you feeling?" Whatever was on his mind didn't distract him enough to stop him from giving her a big grin.

"Fine, doin' just fine..." She glanced down to the map and back to Rick, "Actually, I came lookin' for you to see about doing another search for Sophia."

He leaned on the hood of the car. "Are you sure about that? Hershel said you could walk, but do you feel up to it?"

 _So considerate._ Laura smiled, "I'm fine Rick, my leg was bad before yesterday an' I was still up an' about. Only difference now is that I'm a little sore, but it ain't so bad to keep me off my feet."

With a curt nod, he pointed to a spot on the map. "I was heading out this way today, but I wasn't going to go alone. Shane is busy coaching Andrea, Daryl can't go, T-Dog's still hurt, and everyone else is busy. If you could back me up, that'd be a big help."

"You got it, just point me in the right direction." She grinned, flashing her teeth.

He took his pistol up from the hood of the car and stuck it back in its holster. "We should get going, we won't be out for very long though." She shrugged, "Any time spent lookin' is worth it."

Rick lead her into the woods after crossing one of the fields. It wasn't a long walk and it was spent in silence for the time being. Laura admired the fields and enjoyed just going out searching, she wanted to find Sophia so badly, even more so when Carol visited her last night.

Laura wanted to kick her own ass for thinking like that. She was determined to see that little girl safe and sound, but it wasn't until Laura spoke to Carol when she brought her dinner up that made Laura really focus on it. There was something about that woman Laura couldn't stand facing without returning Sophia to her.

She felt like she couldn't look at her straight anymore, Laura hadn't a problem with Carol in the past, even during the time Sophia was missing. Then Carol spoke to her, told her that she _appreciated_ everything they'd done for her and Sophia. Since then, she couldn't look her in the eyes, she spoke to her again just a little while ago, but it was brief and Laura hadn't looked at her.

She couldn't bring herself to do it while Sophia was still out there somewhere. Until Laura had that little girl back with her mother, she couldn't face Carol.

It wasn't guilt or sympathy, but it was longing. Laura wanted a mother like Carol, it was all she had thought about during her childhood. A good mother who would steal her away from her father. She wanted to be in Sophia's shoes, as strange as that sounded.

Laura heaved a deep sigh and looked at Rick, they were in the woods deep enough where she couldn't see the farmhouse anymore. Rick looked like he was thinking about something in as much detail as she was, only he appeared to be having some issues with whatever it was he was thinking about. "Rick, you alright?"

He turned to her partially, he looked so distant to her. "I'm fine." It was a short answer and said in such a way that Laura thoroughly doubted he was _fine_.

"Y'know, I've had a few people tell me that they can just look at my face sometimes an' tell when I'm lyin'." She started, remembering when she'd been told that she was a terrible liar. And she was terrible at lying, it wasn't her strong suit in the slightest. "Can even hear it in my voice, or just how I say things. I kid around a lot when I'm troubled by somethin'. You tend to get this serious look on your face an' answer in short sentences."

He nodded and turned away from her, looking out through the woods and approached a tree, nailing a piece of cloth onto the tree. "I've got some things on my mind, that's all."

"Yeah, I can tell." She watched him close, over the last few days he only seemed to look worse and worse. "Rick, come on, you're my friend an' I want to know what's wrong? Y'know I don't have a big mouth, I won't tell no one."

Rick faced her now, staring her down. They had stopped while he did this, he wasn't glaring daggers at her, he was just _leering_ at her while various emotions etched across his face. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, "Alright. You win." She stepped forward, trying to at least seem like she wanted to help, because she really did, but her help was usually ended up being misconstrued. "Hershel wants us to leave the farm."

Laura stared right back at him, "But... y'all are safe here. There's food, protection, security, water... If the group leaves..."

"I know, don't you think I know that?" He turned around, a hand on his hip and the other ran through his hair. There was a stressful sigh before he came back to Laura. "I'm trying to work it out with Hershel, trying to talk to him about this."

"I don't know much about Hershel, but he seemed like the understandin' sort." She shook her head in thought, "But I've been wrong 'bout people before. So, don't take my word on it."

"I think you're a fine judge of character," He offered a very trying smile, but it was lost. "I'm _trying_ to talk to him, I just... If we have to leave, I don't know what'll happen. Fort Benning... How can we be sure it's any better then the CDC? Or Atlanta? What if it's just as bad? Where would we go then? We can't just keep moving around, we have to stop somewhere. Otherwise... I just can't be certain."

Laura glanced around them for a moment, she volunteered to be a listening ear and she wasn't going to let him down. He was her friend and a good man, she hated seeing him in such a tight spot with everyone depending on him. "Rick, I can't tell you what the right choice is. I wish I could, but I can't. I'm not gonna' pretend like we're all fine an' everythin' will work out 'cause no one can promise that."

She came forward and put her hand on his arm, "If we're forced off the farm... then that's that. We'll make our own way. I know it's hard, trust me, _I know_. But you can't stop tryin' to make it right. No matter what. Don't matter what anyone else says, screw 'em, they chose to look up to _you_ an' it ain't _you_ who should be livin' up to _their_ expectations. We're survivors now, the lives we had before all this, good or bad, are gone an' for all we know it ain't comin' back. So everyone needs to get up an' do their part, live up to the _groups_ 'expectations, 'cause this ain't a one way street. Everyone needs to put up a fight an' work together, otherwise, it won't matter what you do, or what they do, not even if all your choices are perfect. I know they give all they got in their own way, but we need to pull together better then this. If we do... we all have a chance at survivin'."

Rick actually smiled at her, it was an exasperated one, but it was genuine. "That was quite a speech."

She chuckled, "It was, was't it?" They both took a breath, sparing each other a moments rest. "I meant every word of it though. People need to hold together to make this work."

"You're right, but they do look to me for answers... I can't give them what they want. I wish I had all the answers, I really did." Rick huffed, looking in the direction of the farmhouse. "I'm going to do everything I can to give them what they _need_ though. They need someone to look up to and they chose me, I don't know why, but they did. I'm not going to let them down."

"I never thought you'd do anythin' different." She patted his shoulder, "Now come on, we got a little girl to find."

They walked side by side, every now and then Rick would nail a piece of cloth to a tree and they would move on. It wasn't long before Rick wanted to break the silence and Laura was fine with talking to him, Rick wasn't like Shane or Lori, he didn't hate what she was and Laura was more then happy to show her appreciation for that fact any way she could.

"I've talked to a few people around camp about this, about searching for Sophia." Rick started, "Shane thinks she's... And even if she isn't that we shouldn't be out searching for her, risking our lives. Daryl and you, yesterday, could've _died_ looking for her. I just want to know what you think about this, looking for her, if she's out here, or do you think we should move on too?"

Laura spared him a questioning look. "This is same _Shane_ who accused me of trying to eat Daryl?"

He huffed out his laughter, "One and the same."

"Rick, if I didn't think there wasn't a chance that Sophia was still out here somewhere, I wouldn't be lookin'." Laura answered, she did feel Sophia could be out here somewhere. With the old farmhouse with the cubbard to the doll Daryl found yesterday, there was always that chance. "Hell, even if she is... _gone_ , I still wanna' look. I ain't stoppin' just 'cause it's been a few days since she went missin'. Daryl told me one time when we were out lookin' for her, that when he was even younger then Sophia that he'd gotten lost in the woods once. He spent nine days alone in the woods with no one lookin' for him, but he made his own way back. Way I see it, he didn't have a lotta' chance comin' back, yet he did. Sophia got the same odds as he did."

"Except Daryl didn't have to worry about the dead trying to eat him." Rick commented thoughtfully. It was true, Daryl hadn't had to worry about the undead back then.

"Maybe so, but there ain't many out here." She shrugged, "Kids ain't dumb, Rick. They're smarter then you think, 'specially at that age. Twelve is young, but that doesn't mean she can't make it out here."

"True, I've seen worse situations where a kid was lost or taken and they came back." He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Then again, no dead to think about in those days... I don't really know how to add the dangers of being out here alone and then the dangers of walkers. It's not something I even _want_ to think about."

"Neither do I." Laura couldn't get the idea out of her head though, Sophia being caught by a walker. It wasn't a pleasant thought and not one she wanted to dwell on. "So let's just try to find her before that happens, yeah?"

He grinned, "Yeah." With a new lightness to his step, Rick and Laura moved through the woods a little faster with much more determination then before. Laura figured Rick just needed someone on his side to give him a boost.

They spent the next few hours in the woods, nailing cloth to trees, searching through nooks and nearby creeks. Nothing offering any sign that Sophia had been nearby.

When Laura saw Rick looking for tracks, she decided to try her luck.

"I gotta' ask, an' this is purely selfish I know." Laura watched him scanning the ground, glancing up at her for a second before returning to his search. "I can't track to save my life, but you seem to know what you're doin'. Mind showin' me a thing or two? A little bit of trainin'?"

Rick smiled at her, "Sure. The people who know how to survive in the woods, the better. Come here." He waved her to him and she obliged, stepping next to him as he pointed and circled out an area on the ground. "What do you see?"

Laura frowned in focus, she saw leaves, grass, dead grass, roots, but nothing of any real merit. "Nothin'."

"Look closer." He went to kneel at the small area he pointed out. "Right here." He gestured to a very small patch of grass and dirt. Laura leaned over it and scrutinized it for anything.

She saw something then, it was a small imprint in the loose dirt. "An animal track?"

He nodded, "Exactly, what can you tell me about it?"

Laura crouched down on her haunches and took a closer look. She didn't notice anything about it other then it was made up of five small fingers with claws on the end and that the print itself was very small. "I don't know...?" She winced at herself, but Rick just smiled.

"That's alright. Look here," He pointed to the print. "Judging by its size, how many fingers there are, and the distance between that print and the next... I'd guess this is a raccoon track. If you look close enough you can see that the dirt around it has dried out and started to cover up the tracks again. That suggests this track is old, the raccoon that made them is long gone."

Laura's eyes were wide and she was at full attention. "Jeez, you can tell all that just by _looking_ at it?"

"It's not a lot, but if you're out hunting or searching, it can come in handy." He stood up and she followed, still eyeing the track. "When it comes to larger tracks, like human tracks or deer tracks, you can see other things. Broken twigs, snapped low hanging branches, grass stuck in the prints. A raccoon isn't big enough to leave those kind of markers though."

"That's really cool Rick, thanks for that." She smiled widely. Rick reached out and patted her back, but had hesitated a moment before doing so. He made a face at her, one she couldn't read. "What?"

"You didn't flinch." He stated, his hand still on her upper back. She glanced to his arm and back to him. "Yeah, guess I didn't."

"You talked to someone, didn't you?" Rick was happy about it, he wanted her to get it out in the open.

Laura just bit her lip with a grin, "Kinda'. I told Andrea and she was real good 'bout it... Then, earlier, Daryl asked an' I told him too. I tell ya, if we ever run into those guys, I feel for them. I really do. Daryl looked 'bout ready to jump up an' find them himself."

Rick chuckled, "You and him have gotten close, if that crossbow is any sign of that."

She held the crossbow in her hands. "Yeah, we really have." There was a moment where her mind wandered off away from the woods and Rick, but she quickly came back.

"I'm happy for you, I really am. Daryl seems like a good man, I haven't spoken to him much I admit." Laura just hitched the crossbow back over her shoulder. "Ain't much to tell 'bout him. He's usually quiet, doesn't like to be touched real often, but he ain't against it. We've had our moments, but nothin' over the top."

"Well, that's good. Wouldn't want you jumping into something too fast." He observed, "So, you any good with that thing?"

She took hold of the crossbow's belt, "I'm decent, I mean, I can hit a target just fine, but I got a _long_ way to go before I'm on Daryl's level with it. I can hunt though, not too great at it, but I can do it."

"Maybe while he's down you can take care of some of the hunting. I don't want to keep using up Hershel's food, it's impolite if we have another food source." Laura laughed, "No promises! But I can't skin and gut, don't know how to do that."

"We'll work on it." Rick looked skyward and paused. "We should head back, we've been out here for quite a while."

Laura smirked and jabbed him with her hand, "Why? Worried I'll _eat_ you, Rick?" She was playing around and Rick picked up on that, laughing at her. "Maybe I should be, you looked like you haven't eaten in days."

"Mmm, how about just a bite? I'm sure no one will notice if I walk into camp snacking on your arm." She snapped her teeth at him, giggling. "Probably not, but I think I might miss my arm just a little bit. I could be talked into donating my left arm, I need my right to shoot with."

"Negotiations are afoot then. We shall discuss this over dinner, hmm?" He chuckled and put an arm across her shoulders. "Would that dinner happen to _be_ my left arm? Because I don't want to let go of it until I'm good and ready."

"No promises."

Laura felt accomplished, she'd gotten Rick to joke and laugh with her, something she thought would be very difficult for the man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He seemed better now though, more relaxed.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Rick clearing his throat to get her attention. "Laura, you do know that I don't think you would do that, right? What Shane said last night... He brought it up after Daryl talked about a walker trying to bite him. I wasn't party to whatever was going on in his head, I told him what I thought about you, that I trust you. The _idea_ of it _never_ even crossed my mind, then when Shane said it, I really put a lot of thought behind it, figuring out where I stood in all this and I realized I don't and never have worried about you trying to eat someone, _ever_. I just want you to know that." _  
_

Laura put her arm around his back and jostled him. "It's alright Rick, even if you had thought that about me, I'd understand. I mean, if Jenner is right, I can do some good. Help people. Bring people back from being a walker... I want that chance to help, to be a part of a group like this one. That's all I've ever wanted."

Rick removed his arm from around her and put his hand on her shoulder, holding it firmly. "I think I can do that."

* * *

When they got back to camp, Laura hadn't noticed anything strange going on at camp. Everyone seemed to be minding their own. Laura scoffed, watching their own backs.

Rick had left her in camp and went to his tent. Laura left it alone, they had gone searching and talked about a lot of things she was sure Rick didn't want the group to know about. Especially about Hershel wanting them off the farm, he wanted to talk to Hershel about it before alarming the group with the news. She could understand that, it was cautionary.

Laura stayed around the camp for a little while, she figured she'd go and stop in with Daryl again before it got too dark. So long as he was still awake anyways.

Then Rick came storming out of his tent with an expression that Laura never saw before. It was almost desperation. "Rick-?" He put his hand up and shook his head, "Not now."

He walked off, intent on something, but Laura didn't know what and wasn't about to pry. They had a good time today, she wasn't about to ruin that by pestering him.

Instead, she turned around and left the camp, her destination was Daryl's tent. She had gotten a lot done, trained herself in better use of the crossbow and went out searching with Rick, even though they didn't find anything of any use whatsoever, they still tried. Not to mention she provided some level of support for the group leader and that was invaluable.

When she got to the tent she could see Daryl, eyes closed, still laid down in the same position as he was when she left him, except now he had a blanket over him. Laura looked out of the tent, it was starting to get cold.

She let him rest and went back to camp, she figured she was about ready to start her night watch. No sleep needed, it was better she took the entire night shift.

Wasn't like she had anything better to do.

When she was passing through came, she caught sight of a very bright looking Andrea. Laura grinned, _Why the hell not?_ She walked up to the blonde woman sitting on a chair in the camp.

"Long time no see." Laura walked up and Andrea turned her head to see her approach. "Hello stranger."

Laura kneeled next to Andrea, who had this smile stuck on her face so wide it looked like it hurt. "Damn, what have you been takin'? 'Cause I want some. You look so happy when I looked at you I almost forgot about the dead tryin' to eat y'all." Andrea had this guilty smirk now, one that told Laura she'd just done something she felt was a good thing. A _very_ good thing.

"Can you keep a secret?" Andrea asked, leaning over the arm of the chair. Laura leaned to her too and nodded, "Well, I went out with Shane today... He and I... kind of hooked up."

Laura nearly _laughed_ at the idea of Andrea and Shane together, figuring Andrea was messing with her. Then she looked at Andrea's face, it was shameless and _glowing_. "Oh God, Andrea. Are you serious?"

Andrea bit her lip, "Yup." She giggled quietly.

"Fuck Andrea..." Laura put her hand over her face, "Why? I mean, come _on_ , Shane? Really?"

"What's wrong with Shane?" She looked offended and Laura didn't mean to judge her taste in men, but she knew Andrea could do better then _Shane_. "You mean what's wrong with the asshole who wants to kill me? Who tried to kill me? Who makes my very existence in this camp just that much harder?"

She scoffed, "You _were_ a walker, Laura."

Laura gripped the belt of the crossbow tightly. "Emphasis on _were_ there Andrea. Shane would rather me be dead in a ditch then actually puttin' what I got to good use. I do my share around here like everyone else."

"Your share? You mean shuffling behind Daryl?" Andrea retorted, "You follow him around like a kicked puppy and yeah, I know you like him, but is he any better then Shane? What gives you the right to tell me who is and isn't right for me?"

"I'm not tellin' you anythin', I'm answerin' your question. Shane is... there's something wrong with him lately." Laura insisted, she liked Andrea but the woman was starting to bite at her now. "I think you could do a lot better then him. I think you _deserve_ more."

Andrea stood up quickly, facing Laura who rose to her feet after Andrea. "For the record, I don't see _anything_ wrong with Shane. He's been right this entire time and maybe he was a little tough on you, but that doesn't make him _wrong_. He wants to protect this group and he can do it too. He thought you were a threat and acted, but I don't see him out here putting a gun to your head anymore."

"Because the others won't let him, Rick won't let him. If Shane could've he would've pulled that trigger before and now? I'm positive he'd do it all over again, only the next time, I don't know if Rick an' them can stop him." Laura shook her head, disappointed that Andrea couldn't see Shane as he was.

"You know what Laura, I see him having a problem with you because you were a walker and yeah, I know you _were_ , but that doesn't mean you can't be again." Laura glared, "Face it, no one here knows if you can turn again. You said it yourself, you don't know what'll happen if you die. Will you turn? You don't know, you _can't_ know. So no, I don't see a problem with Shane, I see him protecting us."

With that, Andrea stalked off and Laura was left alone with her thoughts.

Laura was angry and felt a little betrayed. The woman she put her trust in was choosing Shane, the one who wanted her dead, over her. She was fuming over it and left the camp, dodging back into the woods.

She needed to think, blow off steam, and ponder what Andrea said.

Rick said he never thought she'd actually eat them consciously, but what if Andrea was right? Was she a ticking time bomb?

Laura put a hand over her heart and focused on the rare beat pumping blood through her body so slowly and infrequently that anyone would pronounce her dead. She frowned and snarled at the idea, what would happen if her heart just suddenly stopped one day?

Would she turn? Would she hurt them?

How could she be sure she wouldn't?

Laura sighed, leaned against a tree and slid down until she was sitting on its roots. _I can't be sure._ Laura put her head in her hands, she couldn't reassure herself or the others that one day if her heart finally stopped that she wouldn't just get up as a walker and hurt them.

 _Am I dangerous?_ Laura couldn't bring herself to go back to camp, she had to think about this, she had to focus on it for now. She'd go back to camp when she felt ready.

In the meantime, she had a lot to think about.


	25. Out of the Frying Pan

Laura had sat in the forest the entire night, she didn't make any attempts to move. She stayed there, crossbow in her hands, and thought about what Andrea said.

Was she dangerous? If her heart just _stopped_ , could she turn and hurt them?

Laura wanted to pretend she hadn't spent her night wracked with guilt and crying her eyes out, she never sobbed or wailed, but her tears flowed openly and she didn't wipe them away in her anger.

The problem was that while Laura felt hurt by Andrea turning against her for Shane, someone who wanted to kill her, Laura also realized the truth. Andrea knew Shane longer then she had known Laura, they barely ever spoke to each other and though Laura tried to take a leap and extend trust between them to get closer to the group, Andrea would still choose the others over her.

It was common sense, Laura was sure that, in Andrea's shoes, she would've done the same without a second thought. Laura hated that she couldn't blame Andrea for it either. She _understood_.

Laura sneered, she always _understood_ when people were against her, she _sympathized_ and _listened_. She picked up a rock and threw it at another tree, she was so angry, with herself, with her life, with her father, she hated the world and what it did to her.

What it was _doing_ to _them_. If all of this never happened, had the dead not started walking around and eating people all of this wouldn't be here. They'd be safe living a normal life.

But she couldn't dwell on _what if_ , she had to focus on what was actually happening right now.

Was she _dangerous_? Laura pressed her hands on either side of her head and squeezed. She didn't know the answer, she _didn't know_ and she tried to force the knowledge to just pop into her head.

Every time she tried to figure it out she'd just hit a dead end. When she thought about going back without the answer to that question, she felt sick. She'd made it this far, what were the chances of it happening just because she starting thinking about it? She didn't have the answer to _that_ and she hated herself for it.

She'd been with this group the entire time and could very well be a threat to them all.

Was Shane right...?

She couldn't ignore the possibility that Shane was right about her, not that she'd actually consciously _eat_ someone while she was alive, but that she could be a danger to the group. What happens if one night when on watch her heart fails and she finally dies, would she turn? If she did, what would happen? Would they be able to react fast enough so she didn't hurt anyone or would her appearance cause them to hesitate long enough for her to hurt them?

Laura had nothing, no solutions, no answers, and no way to say that Andrea was wrong, Shane was wrong, that she would never turn and hurt them.

She had no control over whether or not she turned and if she did, if she would bring harm to them. If she turned, as a walker she would most definitely try to hurt them.

Would they be able to understand that she had no control over this? If she brought it up, would they still accept her?

Would Daryl?

By the time Laura looked up, the sun had just started to rise. Laura sighed, she needed to get back. She'd been out there all night long and felt emotionally spent. She wondered if they even knew she was gone.

Standing up, Laura began making her way back to the camp. She could still barely see the farmhouse through the trees, in her anger she wasn't too far gone to remember that she still couldn't navigate the woods.

On her way back into camp, the sun had risen and she could see people up and about already. She rubbed her face clean, making sure there wasn't anything noticeable on her face to suggest where she was or what she was doing last night.

When Laura approached, Carol was the first to greet her and she did so with a plate of hot eggs and a smile. "Morning. Breakfast is ready." She handed the plate to her and Laura accepted it, she was hungry again.

Laura came around to the fire, warming herself up as she ate. She distinctly noticed Daryl eyeing her from his spot on the chair next to the fire. He didn't say anything, but she suspected he'd pry later.

It was actually rather comforting thinking that Daryl cared enough about her to _pry_ into where she had gone, because he was concerned about her.

As she ate her eggs, Laura felt a little more relaxed around them, her thoughts almost erased completely. They would've been gone if she hadn't become aware that she could be placing them all in danger if she ever did turn all of a sudden.

Didn't exactly make for a good morning discussion.

So she distracted herself with other things, trying to concentrate on the others in the camp. T-Dog was tending to the fire, Carol was serving more eggs around the camp, Rick, Lori, and Carl all sat together a little ways from the fire, Andrea was sharpening a knife, and Shane was standing by a tree while he ate.

It was quiet, strangely so. Usually when the group had those rare moments when they were altogether they were always talking about one thing or another. The group was very social, even when mad at each other.

This new stillness was a little different then what she was used to with the group, but she wouldn't complain. No talking meant no one wondering where she was all night.

"Um, guys?" Laura looked up from her breakfast, it was Glenn who looked so distress that Laura became instantly concerned about him. He was shifting on his feet, hesitating to speak up. "So..." He had everyone's attention, they were all looking at him but not with the same amount of worry that Laura had. She'd seen that face before. It wasn't good.

"The barn is full of walkers."

Laura's eyes rolled shut, she just knew this quiet breakfast, the group altogether, and rested up had to come to a screeching halt. He put her plate down and ran her hands over her head.

Everyone, at that moment, stopped whatever they were doing and looked at Glenn. Each one just as equally shocked at the other.

They dropped breakfast, all of them, Rick and Shane lead the way as they all headed down to the barn. Laura wasn't far behind Rick, the crossbow on her shoulder and ready for use if need be.

Once they were all at the barn, they stopped around the door. No one spoke up, but Shane approached the barn and looked in through a crack in the wooden planks of the door.

Laura eyed the barn suspiciously, the old barn didn't look capable of holding in a lot of force. The locks on the barn looked secure enough, but the rest of it, the wooden boards looked old and dilapidated, like they were ready to give way at the slightest inclination.

Shane came back, storming into the group. "You cannot tell me you're alright with this." Shane passed Rick who looked just as mad as Shane. "No I'm not, but we're guests here, this isn't our land."

"God, this is our _lives_ man!" Shane paced, "Lower your voice!" Lori shut him up, she was glaring at the barn of walkers.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea commented and she was right, this wasn't safe, all those walkers stuffed into this old barn? The chance of them getting loose was too much.

"It ain't right, not remote." T-Dog was on the far side, just as curious and angry about the barn as the rest of them.

"We either gotta' go in there, we make things right, or we just gotta' go. Now, we have been talkin' about Fort Benning for a long time-" Rick put his hand up to Shane, "We _can't_ go." He growled.

"Why Rick, why?" The two of them stared each other down until Carol stepped forward. "Because my daughter's still out there."

Shane scoffed, running his hands down his face. "Okay, okay. Carol, I think it's time that we all start to just... consider the other possibility-" Rick shook his head, "Shane! We're not leaving Sophia behind."

"I'm close to findin' this girl, I just found her damn doll a few days ago." Daryl stepped up, still favoring his side a little.

Shane nearly _laughed_ at this. "You found her doll Daryl. That's what you did, you found a _doll_."

There was a few tense moments before Daryl started to approach Shane, "Man, you don't know what the hell you're talkin' about!"

Rick put his hand in between him and Shane. "Alright, alright." He tried to calm the two volatile men. "I'm just sayin' what needs to be said here!-" Laura couldn't hear him over Rick anymore, they were both arguing and Rick was trying to step in to shut Shane up.

"Let me tell you somethin' man, if she was alive out there and saw you comin'. All methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!" He pointed away, all Shane was doing now was attacking Daryl.

Laura was sick of this, sick of Shane and their arguing.

Daryl _lunged_ at Shane, the only thing separating the two was Rick and Laura quickly got involved, stepping in with Rick to try and defuse the situation. The two men were more then ready to find out who could best each other. Laura hated to say it, but from what she saw in camp the first time she saw Daryl, it really looked like Shane would win that fight.

Laura put a hand on both their chests, pushing them away from each other. Rick and her got knocked around between them both until more people stepped in, Glenn, Andrea, and Lori all started pushed them apart. Shane smacked her hand away harshly, sneering at her.

Shane backed up and Daryl did to, both still glaring daggers at each other.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel, let me figure this out." Rick was still doing this the hard way, but he was right. Laura didn't want walkers near them, but Rick was already dealing with Hershel wanting them off his land, if they dealt with the walkers without consent, they'd be kicked off the land by tonight.

Shane jumped back to Rick, "Man, what are you gonna' figure out?!"

"Enough!" Lori shoved Shane back and he stopped.

"If we're going to stay, if we're going to clear this barn, I have to talk him into it!" Rick answered, he was getting short with Shane. Laura never saw Rick so pissed off. "This is his land!"

"Hershel sees those things in there as people. Sick people." Laura blinked, _Sick people? At one time, but they're dead now_. "His wife, his- his stepson!" Dale explained and all Laura could wonder is how Hershel could possibly think the walkers were still people.

"You _knew_?" Rick questioned and Dale just nodded in reply. "Yesterday I talked to Hershel."

"And you waited the night?" Shane snapped, Dale just sent him a disapproving look. "I thought we could survive another night. We _did_. I was waiting until this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."

"Man is crazy Rick, if Hershel thinks are alive-" Rick kept trying to calm Shane, "Shane-"

The door squeaked, the walkers inside heard them and started rushing the barn door. Laura instantly pulled up the crossbow, an arrow ready to fire. She watched the doors as they were knocked outwards by the walkers inside.

She could swear those doors were ready to snap.

The group backed away, but Laura remained in front with the crossbow ready just in case.

"I'm going to talk to Hershel, everyone stay away from the barn!" Rick started ushering people away and they were all too happy to get away from the barn. Everyone kept looking back, but Laura stayed at the barn doors.

She stayed, she had to. While everyone else left the barn to get something to defend themselves with and wait for Rick to speak with Hershel, Laura remained resolute.

Laura didn't care if she was danger to them right now, she wasn't about to let the walkers break out and hurt the group. She'd stay and watch the barn, if anything happened, she'd do what she needed to in order to insure that the walkers never reached the group.

After a few minutes, Shane came strutting up.

He paused a moment when he saw her. Laura brought the crossbow up a little, making sure he realized that she wasn't defenseless. He carefully made his way passed her and to the barn doors.

Shane started to check the locks, pulling at the chain near the top, the padlock in the middle, and finally the board across the doors. Laura didn't mind him down here, he was certainly unnerving to her, but right now all he was doing was checking to see if the barn really was secure.

The doors jutted out, the walkers inside heard him and caught his scent. Laura jumped up and aimed the crossbow at the doors, she may not like Shane, but she wasn't about to let him get eaten.

He reached down to his belt, but got annoyed when there wasn't anything there. She remembered that Hershel didn't want them to carry guns on his land, she assumed Shane was reaching for his gun only to remember that he didn't have it on him.

It was a dangerous thing to not have any protection against the walkers in the barn.

A little surprise came to Laura when she realized when she stepped up to aim the crossbow at the doors, Shane actually stepped behind her, seeking her to shield him. She smirked, he was acknowledging that she was there to protect him against the walkers, even if he didn't say anything.

When the doors didn't give way and the walkers calmed down, she lowered the crossbow and turned around to see Shane watching the barn like the walkers would come pouring out of it any second.

As far as they knew, that was a possibility.

"You shouldn't be down here, it's dangerous." She went and leaned against one of the posts. "Should head back up with the others, I've got this."

Shane looked at her, she successfully diverted his attention from the barn to her. Though she really didn't _want_ his attention. He looked down to the hat in his hands and smiled a little. "Y'know, we've had our differences in the past," Laura huffed at him, "Understatement of the century." He nodded and looked back up to her, putting his hat on. "Yeah, I know. You can't stand there and tell me that you agree with this."

She sighed, keeping the crossbow firmly in her hands. "I don't like it, but there's no real way around this without pissin' someone off. Hershel's land, his rules, but y'all's safety comes first to me. Then again, if we don't listen to Hershel we can get kicked off the farm an' there ain't no where out there that's as resourceful and as safe as this farm has proven to be."

"So you agree with me then? This barn has gotta' be cleared out. To protect our own." She looked away, biting her lip viciously. "I... Maybe a little. I dunno'. All I know is that there's a barn full of walkers an' that if there's even the slightest chance they could get out... that they get anywhere near y'all... I'd say screw it, screw the rules, I'd deal with 'em all myself if it came to that."

Shane stepped closer to her, nodding as she spoke. "Then we're on the same page."

"For once." Laura glared at him.

"I get it, I pointed a gun at you and your pissed-" She shook her head, pushing herself off the beam. "Shane, for fucks sake no. I ain't mad at you for that... I mean, it's not like I don't wanna' be. I do, I wanna' kick your ass for it... but I get it. I get why you did it an' I ain't mad. Dammit, I fuckin' get it." Laura was aware she was growling like an angry cat. She _hated_ being so understanding, she just wanted to _not_ understand and be angry at someone for once. "I just... about Daryl... Y'know what, it doesn't even matter anymore. All that matters is the barn full of walkers, everythin' else... can be sorted out later."

"Good, 'cause all I can think about are those walkers." Shane smirked and Laura pointed at him, "Now that we can agree on."

Shane looked back to camp, "What're you gonna' do about it?"

Laura gave him a very stern look, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when the shit hits the fan, and it is, what're you gonna' do? You gonna' clear that barn, get rid of the problem? Or are you gonna' stand on the sidelines while me and whoever else joins me deals with it?" Shane was planning something, Laura frowned at him.

"If the walkers got loose or in anyway threatened the group... I'd kill 'em all."

He grinned, he got his answer and Laura hated that he was happy about that. "Well then, you and me are gettin' along. How 'bout that?"

"It's not permanent, I'm sure."

Shane kicked dirt under him, "No, I guess not, but for now, I don't have a problem with you."

"Until you accuse me of tryin' to _eat_ someone again." Now she was getting a little angry with Shane, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she just wanted to go in that barn and clean out all the walkers, be done with it.

"Now you know I only said that 'cause you're a-" She held her arms out, stepping up to him. "I'm a what Shane? What am I, hmm? Am I a walker? Is that what I am? Do you think I'm gonna' eat you right here an' now? Or do you still think I'm plannin' this shit out?"

Shane reversed a little, "Honestly, I think you're still a walker somewhere in there. Doesn't matter if you got _cured_ or not, just matters what you do and I'm not seein' a whole hell of a lot from you that tells me you won't try to eat one of us the day you get us alone."

" _You have your chance to be rid of him... Just take him here and now. That burning hunger you ignore, let it go._ " The Voice hit her like a ton of bricks. " _He's big enough to make for a good meal, should hold you for sometime until you get another one_." Laura shook her head slightly.

"We're alone right now Shane. You an' me. Just sittin' here in front of the barn full of walkers. Y'know, you told me that I was plannin' out how I was gonna' eat someone. Like when I went searchin' with Daryl, how I _planned_ to be alone with him." She kept stepping forward the angrier she got and Shane kept backing away. "Look at us here an' now Shane. If I did that kinda' thing, if I _ate_ people, don't you realize that right here, right now would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of the one person who doubts me an' have a little snack. I can break the door to the barn, tell everyone the walkers got out, that they got you an' they'd be none the wiser. Ever think about _that_ Shane?"

He was tense with a snarl on his face, but he conceded defeat. He was unarmed and she was right. If she had any part of her brain that thought like a walker that did want to eat people still, then their position was in her favor.

The barn full of walkers, the already warped and weak door, Shane alone and defenseless against her. He could overpower her, sure, but she did have that crossbow up and ready to fire.

Shane turned away and left to the far side of the barn, leaving Laura to guard the barn doors alone.

"Yeah, you better turn tail. Jackass." She leaned against the post again and waited to hear from Rick, she didn't want these walkers here any longer then they had to be.

The sooner the walkers were dead, the safer everyone would be.

Laura could _feel_ Shane's eyes on her, he wasn't too far away from the barn, just sitting on a tractor nearby. He was keeping an eye on the barn and while she was fine with that, she began to wonder if by clearing out the walkers Shane might've included her in that category.

It was another thing she didn't want to think about right now. The barn was important and it demanded immediate attention. She had to keep a close eye on it, make sure no walkers got loose.

After a few hours of guard duty, Laura saw Rick exiting the farmhouse and making his way to Shane over by the tractor. She couldn't hear them at all, but she could see the discussion got heated, Rick and Shane were having more and more arguments lately rather then talks. They fought more and didn't seem to like each others presence at all.

Every now and then she could hear the echoes of their heated argument from the barn, but after a while Rick turned and walked away. He was coming straight to Laura and she stood up straight as he approached.

He was cautious at first, making sure there wasn't anything wrong with the barn before walking towards her.

"Laura." He addressed her and she just gave him a small smile. "What's up Rick? How's things with Hershel?"

He sighed, "Not good. We're talking about it, but he won't listen." Rick pointed to the farmhouse, "He thinks the walkers are people who just got sick, that they're still people. I don't know how to convince him otherwise."

Laura came up to Rick, the crossbow lowered, and put a hand on his shoulder. "You knew this wasn't gonna' be easy. Hell I knew it when Glenn told us, but we both know that there has to be a way to show him. Somehow."

"Maybe," He looked a little distant, "Laura... Do you think you can try and... help the walkers in the barn? See if you can do something about them?"

"What, like try and cure them like Jenner said?" She stepped back and looked at the doors, "I need to see them, see how far along they are. It wouldn't be a good idea to try and revive them if they're too far gone. If they've already started decomposition, then I won't do it, no matter what. The pain they'd be in constantly... and they wouldn't make it long. Decomp isn't reversible after a certain point. It would do more harm then good."

"I understand that, can you go inside and take a look? Just to find out?" Laura nodded, "Keep watch until I come back?"

"I'll be here."

Laura went to the side of the barn and saw the ladder. She made her way up and climbed into the door on the side of the barn. It was dark inside, barely any light was getting in to the ground floor.

She went around the haystacks and saw the walkers inside, they made no move to her even when she sat on the edge of the second story and dangled her legs over.

The walkers she was looking at had been mostly missing large portions of their faces and bodies. She sighed, most of the walkers were so badly damaged that no human could survive those injuries and the others, the stage of decomposition. They were months into it and she couldn't revive those.

Laura figured that, she could for maybe a few seconds bring one of them back, but they were so far gone that even if she did and they woke up, alive again, they'd be in such misery that it would be mercy to kill them.

They could never recover from the injuries and decomposition that she could see.

Laura got up and left the barn, she hadn't gone down to inspect all the walkers, she didn't want to, but she did as Rick asked and went to find out if she could. She climbed back down the ladder and went straight for the front of the barn.

Rick was waiting, but he was pacing back and forth. When he saw her, he stopped. "What do you think?"

"These are old walkers Rick, most of them are missing most parts of their bodies. A few of them have their jaws and faces torn apart, others are missing arms, some have massive gashes and holes in them that would make survival for any person impossible." She answered and shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I would never even try to bring those walkers back, they're in such bad shape that even if I can revive a walker... they'd suffer so much only to die afterwards."

Rick closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair and over his growing beard. "It's alright, I understand. I just had to be certain."

Laura nodded, "I'll be here if you need anythin', I ain't leavin' until the group is safe."

"Thank you, I'm going to go out again to look for Sophia, can you keep an eye on things around here?" Rick's eyes glanced up to Shane who was still sitting on the tractor. "I'm concerned about what some people might do is all."

"You got it Rick."

After Rick left, Shane wasn't too far behind him, though he wasn't following Rick. Shane headed off in the direction of the camp and Rick had gone towards the RV.

Laura kept to her word and didn't move more then ten feet from the barn, she kept that crossbow armed and ready for anything. She wasn't going to let walkers harm her group.

The day flew by, her mind caught onto many things to distract her from time.

Namely the moans from inside the barn, they sounded so similar to the sounds she remembered making when she was a walker. Of course they were though, they were walkers and they all tended to make generally the same noises.

Laura glanced around her and growled deep in her chest, a hoarse hiss came from her mouth. She clamped her mouth shut and stared out over the fields to the camp and farmhouse.

The sound she made was exactly like a walker, it was an unnatural sound. It came from her chest and reverberated through her throat and jaw. It felt strange, so very alien that she knew she shouldn't be able to make anything akin to that sound.

She was sure no one in the camp could do that, the feel of it, the sound that she felt and heard... It wasn't normal in the slightest and she was disturbed knowing she could do it.

Taking a good look around her, she tried again and made it louder. The sound scratched in her chest, the resulting sound was a walker growl, loud and demanding. Laura coughed, her throat strained when she did it. She didn't know why or how she did it, just that she could. It may come in handy in the future and she was determined to use whatever she had at her disposal to survive.

Aside from the strange sounds she learned she could make out of curiosity, Laura was extremely annoyed at Shane. For everything he's done so far, the groups survival before Rick arrived was solid, but as things got worse and walkers began finding their way out of the city, suddenly everyone started blaming Rick for the walker's behavior.

Laura knew fine well the walkers would find their way out of the city one day, that the hordes would eventually clear out of Atlanta and make their way further out. She _knew_ it because she was watching it happen before she ever joined the group.

Because Rick just so happened to show up and take charge when things were actually getting worse, everybody thought Rick was mucking things up. She saw the walkers, she knows what they do and how they do it, and the walkers left the city and began working their way through the roads and woods.

Their progression had nothing to do with Rick, in fact, Laura firmly believed that had they not rushed off to get the guns that many more lives would've been lost.

Laura rocked on her heels and kept herself mindful of the barn. She couldn't let herself be distracted, in this situation it could cost lives.

So she waited and stared at the barn door, running her hand along the wood planks, they were old and worn down after years of service. The walkers inside didn't even bother with her, they could see her, hear her, smell her, and thought her as one of their own.

She wondered if she actually smelled that bad.

Laura's thought were broken when she heard commotion up at the farmhouse. She could see the group on the porch, but couldn't make out a lot. There was definitely something going on.

She took a step forward only to freeze in place, she couldn't leave the barn, it wasn't safe. She had to stay and keep watch on the walkers. If she left and something happened... Laura couldn't even imagine it. Rick trusted her to keep anyone who wished to defy Hershel away. She was going to do just that.

But what was happening at the farmhouse?

The noise got a little louder, nothing she could hear but distant sounds. She didn't like what was happening, it didn't look right from where she was standing.

All of a sudden, the commotion stopped and she could see a figure bolting across the yard in front of the farmhouse.

Growls caught Laura's attention, they sounded louder and clearer then the ones in the barn and she brought up the crossbow in front of her, checking the doors just to make sure.

Until she looked over her shoulder and saw Rick, Hershel, and the boy Jimmy coming towards the barn and the group running towards them.

"Rick?" Laura pointed the crossbow at the two walkers Rick and Hershel had on two pole ends. _What the hell?_ She didn't know what to do, Jimmy was leading the walkers ahead and they weren't doing anything towards actually killing the walkers.

She didn't know whether to fire or figure out what Rick was doing.

The group neared them and Laura hitched the crossbow on her shoulder again, coming up to Rick, Hershel and Jimmy. Shane shoved the gate open and ran to them. "What the hell you doin'?"

"Shane, just back off." Rick demanded, but the entire group was there now watching Rick hold a walker on the end of a pole. It wasn't something Laura thought she'd ever see.

"What're your people doing with guns?" Hershel asked, clearly having some difficulty with the walker he was holding.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Shane circled Hershel and Rick, "You see? You see what they're holdin' onto?!"

"I see _who_ I'm holding onto." Hershel snapped right back at Shane. Laura shook her head, he really did think walkers were people and this was dangerous, having walkers anywhere near them was a big risk.

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk!" Rick was struggling with the walker, trying to keep it away from Shane who got closer and closer with every second.

"What do you wanna' talk about Rick?" He jumped back from one of the walkers, "These things ain't sick! They're not people! They're dead!" The others had guns, they were all armed and aiming at the walkers Hershel and Rick held. "Ain't gotta' feel nothin' for 'em 'cause all they do, they kill! These things, right here! These are the things that killed Amy! They killed Otis! And they gonna' kill all of us unless we do something!"

"Shane, shut up!" Rick cried, he was incapable of stopping Shane with the walker in his hands.

"Hey Hershel, lemme' ask you somethin'. Can a living, breathing person, can they walk away from this?" Shane pulled out his gun and fired three shots into the female walker Hershel was holding.

"Stop it!" Rick was far beyond the point of anger, he was enraged, but unable to get to Shane. Laura tried to get closer, but Shane started again and she didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

"That's three rounds in the chest, someone who's alive, could they just take that? Why is it still comin'?!" Shane fired off two more shots, "That's its heart, its lungs! Why is it still comin'?!"

Three more shots, Shane was unloading into the walker. "Shane, enough!" Rick pleaded, he had been trying this whole time to convince Hershel to let them stay and Shane was destroying all his work.

"Yeah, you're right man, that is enough." Shane stormed up to the walker and put it down, one shot clean to the head.

When the walker fell, Hershel went with it, he was on his knees and speechless. He didn't utter a single word.

Shane turned around and was facing her at the barn doors. She tensed, he still had his gun out and she knew fine well that Shane thought of her as nothing more then a walker.

"Enough lookin' for a little girl who's gone!" Shane got closer to her, he was moving fast. "Enough livin' next to a barn full of things that are tryin' to kill us! Enough lettin' one of those things sleep in our camp! Enough! Rick, it ain't like it was before."

Rick just watched Shane, glaring at the man. "Now if y'all wanna' live, if y'all wanna' survive, y'all gotta' fight for it! And I mean fight! Right here! Right now! Startin' with this one!" Shane turned and ran towards the barn door and Laura went for the crossbow, but Shane reached out too fast and grabbed her by her neck, the force of which was enough to strangle a normal person.

"We've been lettin' one watch over us while we sleep! In our camp! Next to us!" She could barely move, hunched over from how Shane was dragging her along, and trying to grab Shane's hands as he pulled her away from the barn.

"Shane, let her go!" Rick yelled at Shane, who just brought up his other hand to grab her hair and yank her head back, one hand still tightly around her neck. "This thing ain't one of us! It'll try an' kill us the second it gets the chance! It may act all innocent, but it ain't no different then the others!"

The group was tense, Shane increased the pressure of his hand around her neck until she couldn't breathe at all, but she didn't need so much air, so the only problem she had was the force of his hand, the crushing feeling of her throat being squeezed until it bruised.

Laura tried to kick against him, struggled to fight him off, anything to loosen his grip. She may not need a lot of air to live like them, but she still needed to have a neck and Shane was dangerously close to crushing her windpipe and that kind of extensive damage _would_ kill her.

"Stop it!"

Laura was well aware that Shane, while attempting to strangle her, had brought out his gun again and was aiming it at her head, the barrel pressed against her skull.

She looked to the group, she saw them all watching with wide eyes, shocked at Shane. Daryl was closest, his gun still trained on the walker Rick was holding. He made a snarl before turning around to Shane and started to approach, but Shane cocked the gun. "One more step man, just one more." Shane threatened and Daryl stopped, he couldn't risk it.

The group got closer though just a little, Rick was stuck with the walker on the polearm and the rest started to get worried. She knew most of them didn't know exactly what Shane thought of her, Andrea maybe, Rick knew, Glenn and T-Dog had an inkling, and Daryl knew enough, but this was a far more dramatic display then she expected.

"There ain't no room for these things! And this one, she ain't one of us! She's one of them! It won't stop until we're all dead!" Laura took her chance, or rather, she made one.

Her nails were long, sharp, and strong. She never wanted to find out if they could be used against people, but she didn't have much of a choice. She reached up to his shaved head with both hands and hissed, her walker-like sound combined with her nails scarring the back of his neck and head caused him to drop her and recoil.

Laura's neck felt crushed, but when she hit the ground there was instant relief. She coughed, the pain burned her throat.

Shane came back around after having felt and seen the blood from the wounds she caused and fully intended on putting a bullet in her head, but once she was able to shoot her hand out and grab his hand, tearing her nails down it until he pulled back.

He moved far too fast for her though as she was about ready to pull the crossbow around from her back, Shane's fist connected with her jaw and with a heave, he lifted her up and yanked her around, she couldn't see much, but her feet failed her and she was thrown aside, hitting the ground hard and tumbling away.

Shane left her alone after that and went to the barn, Daryl was about to pursue him until he saw what Shane was doing. He took a step back, taking aim back at the walker Rick held. Shane took a pickaxe from the side of the barn and starting to bang at the locks.

"Hershel! Take the snarepole! Hershel!" Laura groaned, she was still sore from being thrown off a horse, her body ached and now her throat burned something terrible. She felt like she'd been hit with a car, days of wear and tear on her body finally caught up with her.

But she moved, managing to get herself to a stand. It was shaky and hurt, but she did it in time to see Rick shouting at Hershel, trying to get him to take the walker from his hands while Shane tore off the locks from the barn door.

They all took aim and Laura was finally able to get the crossbow in her hands, she had it trained on Shane, in case he felt the desire to put a gun to her head again.

"Shane! Shane!" Rick called out, but Shane was off in his own world, snapping the locks off the barn door. "Do not do this brother!"

Shane broke off one of the padlocks, "Don't do it!" She heard Glenn shout. "Rick!" It was Lori, eventually, there was just too many people shouting that she couldn't tell one voice from another.

The last thing separating them from the walkers was the board across the doors and Shane lifted it, threw it away, and banged on the doors to get the walkers attention.

The barn doors slowly opened up and walkers began rushing out, everyone hurried into a line and turned it into a shooting gallery. The walkers didn't stand a chance and the group opened fire, at this point they had no choice.

Shane turned around, looking at Rick. Laura could see that whatever they had before was shattered and it actually made Laura sad. Shane shot the walker Rick had on the pole, but Rick didn't join in. He stayed there, behind the front lines as Lori and Carl came up behind him.

Gunfire went off rapidly, there wasn't a split second where a gun wasn't being fired and the walkers fell just about the moment they stepped out of the barn. Laura never fired a single arrow, she couldn't bring herself to do it and at the same time had to keep an eye on Shane who was so convinced she is a walker that he nearly killed her for the second time.

By the time the guns stopped, no body knew what to do. The pile of walker bodies in front of the barn, Hershel was kneeling on the ground, crying, Maggie holding him and crying too.

Laura lowered the crossbow, everything went still.

The group was in shock, everyone scared of what just happened. There were more walkers in the barn then Laura had seen, many more, but as if that wasn't enough, Dale came walking up to the scene.

Laura glanced to the man, he must've heard the gunfire, but when he arrived he put it together. He knew what had happened.

However, through the crying of the Greene family, Laura heard a growl emitting from the barn. She looked at the group, they all clearly heard it.

She stepped forward from the side of the of the dirt path to the barn and approached the line they made when they were shooting down the walkers. It sounded like only one walker, easy to handle.

When the walker stepped into the light, it was a different story.

Laura felt her heart plummet, the little girl that stepped out of the barn was the very same they searched the woods for.

 _Sophia_.

She heard Carol cry out and try to run to her daughter, only to be stopped by Daryl who grabbed onto her and held her back.

Everyone was stuck, the mere sight of Sophia as a walker destroyed them all. They had spent days combing the forest, Daryl and Laura collected their own injuries from the search, the group was here because of Sophia, and there she was.

_They found her._

Sophia stepped over the walker corpses, growling and hissing as she did so. Her yellow eyes watched them as she approached the group, if it wasn't Sophia, it would be more menacing.

Laura saw in the corner of her eye Rick coming from behind the firing line, his revolver in hand.

 _This is your chance._ Laura glanced between Rick and Sophia quickly. _It's time to start making a difference. It starts here. Prove Jenner wrong._ He paused in front of the group, raising his pistol to Sophia.

Laura acted fast and jumped in front of the gun, grabbing onto Sophia and holding her away. "Wait!" Her voice was rough, painful, Shane nearly crushed her neck. Rick just stared her down, he was ready to shoot Sophia until Laura got in the way. Sophia was behind her trying to get passed, but Laura held her back. It was easy, Sophia was small and didn't have a lot of weight behind her.

"Let... me t-try." She struggled to get the words out without coughing, but her throat was hurting so bad, she could feel scratching in her throat and chest as she spoke. "Give me... a... chance." He looked at her face, her walker appearance, her healing black eye, the cut on her head when Shane hit her with the butt of his shotgun and the new bruise forming on her jaw.

Rick understood and lowered his pistol, giving her a nod.

"What do you need from us?"


	26. When You're All Alone

Laura sat inside the barn with Sophia wandering around aimlessly, hissing and groaning.

She had put in her request with Rick and the others some time ago and was waiting for what she needed to be delivered. It didn't take very long for them to bring some of the supplies down.

Laura needed at least one syringe, a bucket of water, wash cloths, new clothes for Sophia in case this worked, a blanket, bandages, pain killers, drinking water, and some food. All for Sophia. Some in preparation if her plan worked, the rest to make it possible.

Jenner once told her that her blood, when he tested it against the others, had a cell in it that _attacked_ the virus in the bloodstream and may even have the ability to reverse the virus, maybe bring back the person that was infected.

Like her father did to her when she was a walker.

She didn't know all the details about how she came to have her humanity returned to her, but she was going to have a shot at it. Sophia was too important not to try.

There was a knock on the barn door, Sophia turned and growled. Laura grabbed her and pulled her away, putting her in one of the stalls and closing the door. She hated doing that to her, but she had to for protection.

Laura hurried to the door and pushed it open, only to see Daryl standing there with the rest of her supplies.

"Hey." She spoke quietly, accepting the supplies in his hands. "Just brought these down, stuff you asked for."

She nodded, "Yeah... it's a-all... here. Thanks." Laura turned around and put the bucket of water down, but held onto the wash cloth, clothes and syringe. Her voice was cracking terribly, she ended up repeating words."Is... is th-there anythin'... ya needed?"

Daryl peered inside. "You alright?"

Laura tilted her head, "W-why... wouldn't I... be?"

He pointed to her face, the newly forming bruise on her jaw. "'Cause of that." He had that look on his face again, he was angry but more concerned about her to even sound angry. "I took care of Shane for that, knocked him around 'til they dragged me off." He smirked.

Laura huffed playfully, "Y-yeah?... I was... was hopin' I'd g-get the honor."

Daryl looked down, biting his thumb again. "I'm sorry... for not stoppin' him. He had that gun on you an' I couldn't get close enough." He looked downright guilty, but Laura put her hand on the side of his face, forcing him to look at her.

"It-it ain't... your... your fault f-for what S-Shane did... so don't... don't even th-think that."

He frowned, "You sound bad."

"I-I feel... bad." She retorted with a smile, trying to relax him some. Laura pulled him in close, leaning forward and kissed him assuredly. It wasn't heated or romantic, it was there to confirm that she was fine, Shane hadn't actually hurt her that bad. She broke the kiss and ran her hand down the side of his face. He was leaning through the doors now, but cautiously. "I'll... h-hold up h-here... until I s-see results."

Laura brought the crossbow off her shoulder and held it out for him, "S-suppose you'd... w-want it back."

He pushed it away, "Keep it, least for a bit longer. Can't use it yet anyways." A side gesture to his side, "I ain't goin' nowhere."

She pulled the crossbow back onto her should. "If-if you're... sure." Laura couldn't hold it back any longer and fell into a coughing fit, her throat hurt and she had to work that much harder just to utter a single word.

Daryl reached out and held her shoulders, unsure of what to do as she tried to calm her inflamed throat. "It's alright... I-I'm okay."

He didn't believe her answer, but couldn't press the subject, especially when Sophia began to make noise in the barn. He looked behind her but couldn't see Sophia in the stall Laura put her in.

"I s-should... s-start. Sooner t-the better."

He agreed and, for the first time, he was the one to grab her to him and found her lips with his. It was more forceful and hard, but she didn't mind it in the slightest. He held her tightly for as long as he could before Sophia began to hiss again.

"Be careful." Daryl backed away from the barn door and she gave him one last smile before closing the door.

She had a long day ahead of her or... however long it took for this to work.

Laura made sure the door was good and walked back over to Sophia with the syringe and clothes. She set the clothes and wash cloth down on a shelf before reaching Sophia.

She entered the stall and Sophia just looked at her, groaning quietly, but made no move to or from Laura.

Kneeling down, Laura put the needle to the crook of her arm and stuck it in as carefully as she could, wincing as she felt the pinch. She had gone to school to try and be a doctor, she knew where the veins were and yet, when she tried to draw blood, it took longer then normal. Much longer to actually fill the syringe.

She frowned, it was her blood pressure and low heart beat that was doing it. It wouldn't hurt anything now though, so Laura came in close to Sophia and tried to steady the girl as she worked.

Of course, Sophia kept moving, jerking around lamely as she hissed. Laura managed to get the needle in place and got it in without breaking the needle or causing any damage.

As Laura was trying to steady Sophia, the girl bit her, hard enough to break the skin. Laura hissed and withdrew her arm, recoiling from Sophia as she inspected the bite. It was small and only hurt a bit, it was on her wrist, the teeth marks would scar but Laura didn't care.

After the bite, Sophia showed no consideration towards Laura again until she came back to repeat the process.

Once the syringe was empty, Laura did it again, drawing blood and then injecting it into Sophia's bloodstream until Laura was satisfied that enough was enough.

Laura got up and went back for the bucket of water and brought it to the outside of the stall. She would have to wait until Sophia showed any signs of recovery before she started to clean her wounds.

She took off the crossbow and leaned it against the stall, sitting next to it while she waited.

Laura knew she'd be in this barn for a long while, she didn't know how long it took for it to work if it would work at all. So she laid back and rested her aching body.

She ended up just sitting there and listening to the sounds Sophia made, the hisses, the grunts, the groans, and after a little while the only sound Sophia made was ragged huffs every now and then.

Laura had no thoughts on the situation, no opinion. Either it worked or it didn't. This little girl was important to everyone, not just because she's a little girl, a child, but because her survival meant the world to them. It meant hope and represented their future, if Sophia was well and alive, then they'd all feel just a little bit safer in this hellish world of theirs.

If there was anything she could do, Laura would make sure they weren't deprived of that hope they all deserved so much. She had to do this, it _had_ to work. Sophia meant so much to them and Laura felt like there was a small chance that she could actually help her.

Any chance, no matter how minute, was worth the time and effort.

So Laura sat outside the stall and waited.

She thought about the group, how this hurt them to see Sophia turned. She thought about what would happen if this didn't work, how it would devastate the group even further. She thought about Sophia's suffering, turning into a walker either by blood loss or through infection were both painful experiences and Sophia, if this worked, would remember it all and the pain she would have to go through to be able to reclaim her human side.

It made Laura angry knowing that Sophia had suffered, alone, and in order to bring her back she would only suffer more.

Temporarily of course, Sophia's pain wouldn't be permanent. Laura remembered that most of hers went away after the first few hours, then about a day later all walker-related pain disappeared.

But the hunger... Would Sophia have it to? How would she deal with it? And what about that voice, would Sophia have one too?

Would she listen to it?

Laura held her head in her hands, she struggled against the Voice in her head every time something even went remotely wrong for her. Shane threatening her, her father _taunting_ her, those men hurting her, and she had heard it when she was just out with people.

She didn't want to listen to it, but it was so _loud_ and it demanded her full attention when it spoke. Laura thought she was crazy for a while, that the voice was just her own mind snapping.

The voice wasn't normal though, it was violent and a completely different person then her. When Laura listened to it, she _became_ a different person. One who clawed and hissed at her father, attacked him viciously then leaped out the car window, listening to the voice got her free from those men, but it made her the kind of person who listened to the screams of that man being eaten alive like it was Mozart.

Those few times where she listened to the Voice it made her some _thing_ else that Laura was afraid of.

She didn't want to be violent, she hated violence and didn't condone it in the slightest. At least, she didn't _before_. Now she can look at dead bodies without a care in the world, when Rick and Daryl cut open that walker she felt nothing, she didn't _care_ even a little bit at the grotesque sight. She just _watched_ like she was flipping TV channels.

It was disturbing to her to think of people being butchered and not having any reaction whatsoever.

Laura needed to keep a leash on this Voice of hers, she needed to have it locked down so she couldn't use it anymore. Those times when she listened to it, she didn't even _mean_ to listen, she just _did_ and this other creature took over. She felt like she was watching a scene unfold through strangers eyes, she wasn't in control of herself.

That scared her the most, the lack of control. She tried to think about what would happen if she listened to the Voice again either purposefully or not, and hurt someone she cared about. One of the group, or the entire group, anyone at all really. She didn't want to hurt them.

Could she though, even if she listened to the Voice? Would they be able to stop her?

They had guns and weapons of all sorts, they could easily deal with her if she became a threat. So that wasn't a problem, but did she want to put them in a position to kill a member of their group? Someone they also care about?

Was it selfish to be thinking about her survival when, if she did become a danger to the group, she should really be thinking about _them_ and their safety?

Does that even matter anymore? Selfish behavior?

Laura hated waiting, if this worked, if Sophia could come back to them, Laura would earn her keep. She felt a deep sense of self loathing as the thought of Sophia's survival, returning to the group and to her mother, was a way for Laura to prove herself to the group.

She smacked herself upside the head for thinking it, but it was true. To her at least. She felt like she barely did anything for this group anymore, like she wasn't particularly useful anymore since they left the city. Her strength was to walk with walkers, to make scavenging safe, supply runs no longer had any risk, but they were on a farm that supported itself with food, water, and shelter.

They didn't need her for this. She didn't belong.

If this worked and Sophia was alive again, then Laura would've shown herself an active member of the group, one who could do something no one else could. She could save lives after turning.

This reasoning made Laura angry. She didn't want to think of Sophia like a tool to be used to earn her place in the group, but she couldn't help it. Once the thought popped into her head, she knew it a true.

That didn't mean she wouldn't be thrilled if Sophia returned to them alive. Laura would love it, jump for joy, cry out loud, proclaim her excitement to the world. Anything, because it was _Sophia_ and that was more important to Laura then anything.

They could kick her out of the group, they could kill her for all she cared, so long as Sophia was alive.

As time flew by, she noticed the sunlight through the cracks in the barn had begun to fade. It was getting late when she heard a knock on the barn door. Sophia didn't seem to pay it much mind and just stood in the stall.

Laura got up and walked to the door, opening it to see Daryl had returned. She smiled and leaned against the door. "Somethin' I can do for you?"

"You sound better." He commented, but it was obvious to Laura that Daryl was here for something. "It was just superficial damage, it came and went."

Daryl looked down to her throat, a bruise began forming where Shane had grabbed her. His jaw tightened as he stared at the black, purple, and yellow bruise that circled her neck and the smaller, less noticeable one forming on her jaw. Laura reached out to him, placing her hand on his chest. "Hey, I'm alright now. It doesn't hurt bad."

"Don't care, shouldn't of touched you." He growled then looked away, tearing his eyes from the bruise like it was a struggle not to look at them. "I came for my crossbow, goin' huntin'."

She nodded, "You up for that?" She glanced down to his side and he just shrugged, "Ain't hurt _that_ bad. Need to eat."

"Lemme' get it." She turned around and went into the barn, leaving the door open and Daryl looked inside. The barn was pitch black, the only light was the little bit of sunlight that managed to fit through the barn planks. He didn't know how she could see in this.

She navigated in the dark fine, grabbed the crossbow from the side of the stall and returned to him, holding it out for him which he took and swung it over his shoulder. "I took good care of it, even practiced a little."

He glanced over her, "Yeah? Hit anythin'?"

Proudly, Laura raised her chin. "I did in fact, I didn't bring nothin' back though. I was able to hit a few squirrels and a rabbit. I didn't know nothin' about makin' them edible, so I had to leave 'em. Figurin' I'll see if you can't show me that stuff later on."

Daryl smirked, "Later on."

He turned and left, that smirk still on his face as Laura closed the barn door again and went back to Sophia who hadn't paid a single bit of attention to Daryl's intrusion.

Laura frowned and took up the syringe again, drawing blood from her arm and stepping into the stall.

Sophia didn't growl or hiss, just stood there looking around blankly. Laura kneeled in front of her, bringing the needle up to her arm, which Sophia offered up a little resistance and started to make noise again. Laura injected the blood into her arm, but Sophia bit her again, this time Sophia got her teeth into Laura's fingers.

Withdrawing, Laura checked over the new bite on her left hand, it ran across three fingers and was actually quite deep, but not enough to cause concern or any real damage to her hand.

Laura held her bleeding fingers to her shirt and wrapped up the bottom part of her shirt around them.

She left the stall and slid down to the ground, leaning against the stall and resting. Laura didn't think much about anything after that, she just had to wait, her mind went blank and Laura did nothing but run her fingers through the dirt and hay with her good hand.

* * *

When morning came around, Laura almost missed it completely.

She had a few more sessions with Sophia where she would inject the blood into Sophia's arm and Laura kept getting bitten every time. Her left hand had a few teeth marks on it, her right was littered with them as well. Only one of them got to the point where Laura was actually worried Sophia, being a walker, was trying to eat her.

But she hadn't been, the moment Laura pulled her hand back Sophia showed no interest in her anymore. It was a defensive bite, instinctual when introduced to pain. Laura had tried to combat it a few times, but after a little while didn't care if she was bitten. It didn't hurt her beyond her tolerance point, so she just let Sophia nip at her when she injected her.

Laura's eyes were closed, her head hung low, and she did not move an inch since the last injection. She felt mentally exhausted, so many things torturing her conscience that she eventually just gave up and stopped her mind altogether.

It wasn't until she decided another shot was in order and she stood to find Sophia, still in the stall, laying on the haystacks.

She raised her brow, walkers didn't lay down to rest.

Laura stepped into the stall, the syringe in hand and approached Sophia. She drew her blood again and lifted Sophia's significantly smaller arm in her hand, giving her another shot of her cured blood.

When she released Sophia's arm, Laura was a little worried. She wasn't moving and hadn't made a sound for quite some time now.

Laura neared her, being careful with the girl. She was laying on right side, so Laura gently moved her until she was on her back. Sophia was limp, there was nothing there, nothing at all. No movement, no hissing or groaning. Her eyes were closed.

Her heart stopped. She held her hand hovering above Sophia's mouth to feel for her breathing, but there was nothing.

Laura put her ear to Sophia's chest, trying to listen for a heartbeat. Again, she was met with a heavy silence that stole Laura's breath away. She had no heartbeat, she wasn't breathing...

Sophia was _dead_.

Laura sniffed, tears stinging her eyes. She stayed all day and night hoping that Sophia would come back, but she just laid there. She wasn't awake, no awareness, no signs of walker behavior, just... gone.

She fell back, using her arm to brace her as her back met the stall again. Her other hand covered her mouth, tears falling openly. She tried, there wasn't much she could do, she knew that, but she _tried_.

Laura speculated on what would happen if she brought Sophia back, but she didn't stop to think about what would happen if she didn't.

She held herself and cried, she never cried loudly, just quiet tears as she stared at the lifeless body in front of her. Laura hadn't much to give but she did all she could and it still didn't work.

 _How am I going to tell them?_ Laura gave them just a little bit more hope even when they saw Sophia turned and it was torn away _again_. Laura didn't know how to handle this, how tell them she failed.

For a moment she contemplated sneaking out of the barn and running, just straight up leaving this all behind and trying to forget about it. Moving on with her life, let the group survive without her. They could do it, they did it before.

She smiled at the though, it would spare her the pain of trying to face them after this. _This mess I created_. She'd just leave and let them deal with their own problems, she had no place here.

 _Abandon them_. Laura's eyes screwed shut. _Just like mom._ She shook her head harshly, she couldn't run. Laura knew it, the guilt of running away from them would kill her, she wouldn't be able to look at herself without being sick to tears.

And Daryl, what would he think? She didn't much care for others thoughts on her actions, but him, she cared, she wanted to be everything he wanted in her. She wanted to be brave and strong _for_ him. Not to _protect_ him, but to please him, show him that she could be everything he wants in a woman. She wanted that.

Yet here she was thinking about _abandoning_ them.

Laura sighed, she would never go through with it. She could've if those few moments she shared with Daryl, fleeting as they were, weren't there. Laura would've hit the road and never looked back.

But he _is_ there and he _is waiting_ for her to come back, to leave that barn, and she knew if she didn't come out with Sophia alive, there would be consequences. Their relationship, whatever it was, would be thoroughly damaged through this experience.

She couldn't do that to him, to them all, but she couldn't do anything then what she already did.

The _agony_ of this failure would shatter her friendship with them, she just knew it. Everything she strived for would be in ruins because she had to go and give them hope where hope had been stolen away from them.

She didn't know how to leave the barn and tell them she _failed_ them all.

So Laura stayed in that barn and didn't move. She sat still as stone and stared at Sophia's lifeless body, wishing that things could be different. Wishing that she caught up to Rick and Sophia in the woods, that they found her the day they went searching, that she kept a closer eye on the little girl; she begged for things to be different.

Another outcome, good or bad, anything was worth having Sophia back. Laura couldn't imagine the pain she would cause Carol when she did leave the barn. She couldn't conceive how much suffering the mother went through already and how much more she would inevitably face when Laura returned with grave news.

Laura didn't know how much time she spent just _staring_ , but she did notice the sun was bright and high in the sky. She could see it through the cracks in the barn.

She had to tell them sometime, somehow. The courage to stand left her, the will to speak fled, she couldn't do anything. She failed so miserably that all she did was prolong Sophia's death and it _ached_ knowing that she tried to give them something to hold onto when there was nothing there.

 ** _Shuffling._ **Laura imagined things, sounds of hay and clothes rustling. She didn't even think for a moment that there was anything causing it but her mind.

Until a hand twitched. _Sophia's hand._ Laura stared, wide eyed and just watched. The hand moved again, both of them, a foot twitched, an arm rose. A groan. _Movement_.

Laura shot forward and crawled over to Sophia, she didn't know if the girl was still a walker or what was happening, but she had to _try._

"Sophia?" She leaned over the girl, her arm in the haystack keeping her up and her other hand barely brushing aside Sophia's hair, as lightly and calmly as she could. Her voice was broken, her emotions played out clearly on her face and in her voice.

The little girl's face barely moved at all, then, as minutes passed, there was a definite frown on her face and her expression turned to one of confusion and pain. Laura was worried, she knew that Sophia's bite was actually quite painful, it must've been, the walker who bit her had gotten the back of her neck and tore some of the surface skin with the bite.

It was bad, but Laura couldn't do anything about it until Sophia was awake. If she was going to come around at all that is.

She kept running her hand gently on Sophia's face, hoping for something, _anything_ , to happen. Just some good news _for once_.

Her eyes fluttered open lazily, her golden irises caught Laura's attention, she knew they were just as unnatural as her white ones. The virus changed depending on the person, she had seen walkers with normal eyes, some with eyes like hers, some golden like Sophia's, others red or black. It just varied and Laura didn't know why.

She was glad that her eyes didn't look bad though, the sclera's were still white, like normal, people only understood that irises couldn't be yellow like Sophia's was, but that could be easily overlooked.

Sophia was confused, estranged, and Laura remembered that when she awoke for the first time she barely remembered anything at all. Only her father and being bitten.

Sophia didn't remember Laura, of course, they never actually _met,_ so it was expected.

"Sophia, can you hear me?" She begged for Sophia to acknowledge her as a human would rather then a walker.

She got her wish. Sophia nodded carefully, her neck still hurt and Laura knew that the open wound was being pricked by the hay she laid on. Laura gently put her arm underneath Sophia's back and the other under her knees, lifting her off the haystack and brought her out of the stall.

Laura was careful with Sophia, she was hurting and Laura knew it. She took the wash cloth and bandages from the shelf and went to sit with her legs out next to the bucket of water.

She dunked the wash cloth in the water, which was clean and a bit cold. "I need to clean you up, it'll be cold, is that okay?"

Sophia just looked at her tiredly. Laura felt that tiredness before, it was Sophia awaking from death itself. She would feel strange for days before finally beginning to feel like a normal person again.

She rung out the cloth and lifted Sophia up into a sitting position with her back to Laura. She had to clean the wound, but the shirt was in the way. Laura grabbed the back of the neck of the shirt and pulled, tearing it open.

"Sorry, baby, I gotta' clean you up." She tore the shirt near in half and Laura could finally see what she had to do. Sophia's bite was angry and looked very painful. She had to be delicate with her.

Carefully, Laura began to clean around the wound, cleaning the dirt, blood, and grime off her back, gingerly washing it all away, dunking the cloth in the water occasionally.

Sophia flinched at every touch, the water was cold and she was hurting, Laura expected it, but the idea that she was causing pain made Laura's heart pound. She had to do it though, otherwise, Sophia would never feel better, she'd be stuck in the same boat Laura was when her father revived her.

She wasn't going to let that happen. She was going to care for Sophia, dote on this little girl even if it killed Laura. Nothing mattered more then getting her better, helping her recover from her experience.

It was bad, traumatic for anyone, but Sophia was twelve and didn't know how to deal with this kind of suffering. Laura wished she knew how to comfort the girl, but she knew from even before the outbreak that she was terrible with children, she just didn't know what to do with a kid.

Laura huffed, _I'm not gonna' distance myself from her._ She gently washed away the build up of blood and dirt, she was going to make sure that Sophia didn't have to be alone in this, that she had someone to watch over her.

Someone who could relate and comfort her through the process.

When Laura finished with cleaning up her back, she moved onto the wound. She was glad the cloth they gave her was very soft and light, it would offer some level of comfort.

"This is gonna' hurt an' I'm sorry for it, but I gotta' do it to get you better." Laura washed out the cloth thoroughly before raising it to the bite wound and very, very lightly began to press the cloth to her back. Sophia jumped, it would sting and burn, but Laura had no way to counter that. Sophia had to just go through it, in the end, it would all work out.

She made sounds, whining sounds that broke Laura's heart. Every peep Sophia made forced Laura to be lighter, gentler with her touches and she tried her best, but there was always going to be some measure of pain.

While Laura cleaned off the bite would, Sophia began to make more sounds, but not in pain from Laura's cleaning, but an attempt to speak. It came out scratchy and odd, but every now and then there was a syllable.

Sophia was trying to speak with Laura, but it all came out wrong.

"It's okay, take your time. No need to rush." Laura soothed, dunking the cloth and cleaning off the last of Sophia's wound. She was clean, partially. It was a relief to see that the wound wasn't as bad as Laura thought. It was actually mostly just a surface wound, it wasn't deep, but it did and would continue to cause a little pain and discomfort.

Laura took up the bandages and began to wrap Sophia's neck and upper back, making sure to cover the wound completely. The wrapping didn't take long at all and after she was done with it, she checked over Sophia for other injuries.

Thankfully, there appeared to be nothing else on Sophia. No scratches, breaks, sprains, and Sophia didn't respond in pain to Laura prodding some light bruises on Sophia's legs and arms. They were all very small and more then likely caused by little things, branches and bushes, no serious wounds or injuries on her.

Laura was relieved at that, she had to deal with her broken leg every day, she didn't want that for Sophia.

"Mommy?" Laura paused and stared at Sophia who turned around slowly to see Laura watch her. "I-I want m-mommy."

She smiled sadly at Sophia, she had a few more things to take care of before Sophia could leave the barn. "An' you will have her in just a little bit, but we gotta' finish up here, alright?"

She nodded, wincing at the movement. She was sore and aching just like Laura had been when she first awoke. "A-a-alright."

Laura held up the wash cloth and began to clean off Sophia's legs, arms, face, and neck. She wanted Sophia to _look_ like she had before she turned as best she could. When the extremities were done, Laura held up the cloth to Sophia. "Do you think you can wash yourself?"

Sophia nodded and took the cloth, Laura stood up and turned away. Sophia was capable of cleaning herself and Laura did _not_ want to make her uncomfortable, at least, any more so then she already was. Laura never gave a child a bath before, she didn't know how to really, so she left it up to Sophia who seemed to be able to do it.

"D-done." Laura turned back to see Sophia cleaned up a bit more and smiled. "Then let's wash up that hair of yours."

Laura sat beside Sophia and brought the bucket up to her, having Sophia lean forward while Laura poured water from her hands into her hair, slowly washing out the dirt and everything else that was caught in her hair.

When Sophia's hair looked clean, or enough so that it passed for healthy hair, Laura rung out her hair and the cloth, having Sophia sit back up.

She got the clothes from the shelf and handed them to Sophia, "Clean clothes, you'll feel better wearing them." Sophia took them and Laura turned her back again, hearing the rustle of clothing before she felt Sophia's hand tapping her back.

Laura took a long look at her, she looked so much better, cleaned up and breathing. _Living_. She smiled and crouched down in front of Sophia. "There's my girl, how're you feelin'?" Laura took up the blanket and wrapped it around Sophia, it was a comforting device, one Sophia readily accepted.

"I-it h-hurts." Laura noticed the tears stinging in Sophia's eyes and put her arms out, Sophia ran into her arms and hugged her. Laura just sat there and held her before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the pain killers she requested.

Laura released Sophia, who was sniffling, grabbed a bottle of water, popped the top. "Here, take these, they'll make you feel better." Sophia drank some water and swallowed the pills, it wasn't going to be immediate, but Sophia would feel that pain ebbing away over time.

"C-can I... s-s-see mommy n-now?"

Laura sighed and looked around the barn, it wasn't exactly the best place to wake up in like this. Sophia wanted Carol, her mother, back and Carol no doubt wanted Sophia back too. She couldn't keep them apart, it was never her intention, but Sophia... The pain she felt to move, to touch, to _breathe_. Laura knew it wasn't easy and the pain medicine would eventually make it better.

But the best thing she could do for Sophia was give her comfort, which was through her mother. She had to feed Sophia first, she would be starving at this point.

Laura took up the peaches they gave her and handed them to Sophia, who bit into them like she had never seen food before. She ate an entire peach and a half within seconds.

Laura was happy that she was eating right, "Sophia, I'm gonna' ask you some things an' I need you to answer me, okay?" Sophia nodded dutifully and Laura smiled at her. "Do you remember anythin'? Anythin' at all? About Carl, about the people you were with?"

She looked down, "I-I like C-Carl... h-he's my f-friend." _Good, she remembers that much._ Sophia looked sadly at Laura, she was afraid and Laura wanted nothing more then to comfort the girl. "I w-was in the f-f-forest... M-mister Grimes t-t-told me to g-go back to m-momma and I... t-tried, but I g-got s-s-scared and r-ran."

"That's okay, being scared is normal." Laura held Sophia's shoulders gently, "I just needed to make sure you can remember them all an' 'cause you do, I can take you to your momma."

Sophia's face lit up instantly, still pained, but so much happier. "R-really?"

Laura brushed aside some of Sophia's wet hair, "Really. Now come on." Laura put an arm around her, lifting Sophia up to carry her. She had an arm crossing Sophia's back and another on her leg to hold her up safely. Sophia put her arms around Laura's neck as they left the barn.

Laura was happy Sophia was back, ecstatic, but she felt guilty for putting Sophia through more pain. It was for the best, to return her to her mother and the group.

"Sweetie, you're gonna' wanna' close your eyes outside, let them adjust to the light, okay?" She nodded and closed her eyes as Laura pushed open the barn door with her foot and finally left the barn. Laura never wanted to step foot inside that barn again.

Sophia still had the blanket around her as Laura carried her up to the farmhouse, she couldn't wait to reunite Sophia with Carol. She could finally look at Carol without feeling like dirt.

Gradually, Sophia opened her eyes. It was slow and she tried to shield her eyes from the light and in the few minutes it took for them to leave the barn and near the farmhouse, Sophia was beginning to get used to the light again.

Right as she neared the porch, Shane burst through the front door.

Laura froze, she remembered what Shane had done to her, what he tried to do, and thought of Sophia who was like her now, but to Laura, she was different. _So much different_. Sophia was a living person again, human in her eyes, like Laura remained an ex-walker, not worthy of being called _human_ anymore.

But when Shane came out that door, Laura turned herself to the side, shielding Sophia away from Shane.

He stared at her, glared at first, but then he saw Sophia in her arms looking cleaner and better. She looked at him too, watching him with sad eyes that conveyed her confusion and pain.

He took off his hat slowly and stood on the porch, just _staring_ with wide eyes.

Laura could _see_ his swollen jaw, a bruise forming on his temple. She nearly laughed at him, Daryl had gotten back at him, but probably couldn't do a lot of damage with the others around.

Laura wouldn't move so long as he was there, she'd go back to the barn if she had to, but she wasn't going to let him hurt Sophia. Not after everything they did to find her, not after being bitten, dying, turning, and coming back to life. Sophia had been through too much.

"... Sophia?" His voice was low, disbelieving of his own eyes. He blinked rapidly and took a step forward, only for Laura to recoil, holding Sophia tightly in her arms.

Shane glanced behind him. "R-Rick..." He stammered, "Rick!" Now he was calling for the man, Laura didn't want Shane here while Sophia was near, she wouldn't let him touch her even if she had to tear him apart with her bare hands.

He wouldn't lay a hand on her.

After Shane called for him, Rick came out of the house and Shane stepped aside. Rick looked agitated, sending Shane a very pointed look before Shane gestured to Laura and Sophia.

Laura couldn't read Rick for a moment, but he practically fell down the stairs from the porch to the ground. He came up to Laura and Sophia, his mouth open and struggling for words, finding none.

"Is that... Is she?" Laura turned again, letting him see Sophia better.

"M-Mister Grimes?" Sophia's voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

At the sound of Sophia saying his name, Rick crumbled. He smiled so brightly, tears in his eyes and nodded to her. "Yeah, yeah I'm here." Sophia looked around him, "Where's m-m-mommy?"

Rick couldn't formulate a single word without stuttering, "Inside- inside, s-she's inside. I-I'll go get her." Rick left, almost running back into the farmhouse and Laura was left with Sophia and Shane again.

She glared at Shane, but he didn't make any reaction to the murderous glare. He stared at Sophia in pure shock, he couldn't believe what he was seeing and Laura momentarily wondered if this would actually change his mind about her. She doubted it, heavily, but there was always that slim chance.

After a few tense seconds, the entire group came barging out of the house. Laura could see _everyone_ was there, all of them looking as equally stunned as the next and no one made any attempts to near them.

Except Carol who came out of the house with Lori beside her.

"Sophia?" Carol approached cautiously, her hopes skyrocketing as she saw Sophia in Laura's arms. "Mommy!" Laura set her down, letting her run up to meet Carol who had already hurried down the porch stairs, fallen to her knees, and held onto Sophia as if letting her go would kill her.

Laura sighed happily, seeing Carol crying as she held her daughter who they all thought to have died the day before.

Everyone watched as the mother and daughter were reunited, their cries of joy were louder then thunder. It was heart wrenching to see them together again, the power of this reunion silenced every last person there. They were barely even breathing as they watched Carol and Sophia.

Laura felt such relief, she had given them hope and delivered beyond her expectations. It all seemed to have worked out.

She couldn't tell anyone the happiness she felt when she saw Carol holding onto Sophia again, it was what everyone spent their days at the farm praying for, and Laura gave it to them.

She felt such satisfaction knowing that Carol had her daughter back.

"Laura," Carol looked up to her, "Thank you, thank you so much for giving me my little girl back. Thank you." Laura shifted on her feet, she did it, _she really did it_ , and Laura gave her a nervous smile.

"She needs to lay down, she's hurtin'. I gave her the pain killers, but they can only do so much." Carol nodded and stood up, Sophia still hugging her mother as she turned around to enter the house again.

Hershel ushered her inside with the others, while some left to join Carol and Sophia inside, others stared at Laura.

It was Rick, Lori, Daryl, and Andrea who just looked at her. Their eyes on her made her a little uncomfortable, but all she did was nod to them. Rick smiled appreciatively at her and joined Lori to check in on Carol and Sophia.

Andrea didn't do anything but stand there for a moment before heading inside too.

Laura gave Daryl an unsure smile. He came down the stairs fast, grabbed onto her and yanked her to him with such force Laura didn't have much choice in the matter. He crushed his lips to hers, his tongue invading her mouth and dominated hers. One of his hands dug into her hair and his other hand was around her waist, slamming her body into his and pressing her against him hard.

She attempted to reply in the best way she could, but her inexperience and his heat caused her to lose track of her own thinking. The kiss quickly became feverish, but he didn't let go, if anything he held her tighter to him.

After a few minutes of this passionate kiss, they parted, both panting heavily and looking each other in the eyes. She didn't know exactly _what_ was going through his head, he initiated this contact, he did it at the barn the day before, but this was different. It was something else entirely and Laura wasn't sure where to go with this.

She realized, looking at him now, her time was spent worrying about him, thinking about him, he was the reason she didn't chicken out when she thought Sophia died for good. He was the reason she was trying so hard, why she even wanted to be here anymore with people like Shane running around.

Daryl was her reason to be here, to be alive, and to fight on for this group. She cared so much about him that it scared her, she never felt so strongly about anyone before... It wasn't something she spent her time wondering.

But now, finally back with him after their time apart, after everything that had happened. She couldn't ignore it, it was in her face threatening to ruin her if she made the wrong decision, but promising such joy if she made the right one.

She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly becoming very dry. "Daryl... I like you. A lot. I think... maybe more then I should when we've known each other for such a short amount of time." She took a deep breath, "I just keep thinkin' that... there ain't a lotta' time left for either one of us, we could die any day, so I felt I should tell you that I really like you more then anyone else I've ever known."

He looked thoughtful at her confession and for a little while she was worried she scared him off or admitted too much too soon. However, he didn't let her go, his grip was just as firm as before. He didn't move at all, just stood there looking at her, searching her face for something she didn't know.

Then, he pulled her back to him, kissing her again but this time softer, more compassionate. It was strange to have this from him, but she wasn't complaining. If he felt like kissing her hard, then she'd let him, if he wanted to be gentle with her, then she'd encourage it.

She responded in kind, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, one hand gripping his back and the other on his neck as they shared another few minutes in each others arms, sharing another passionate kiss.

When he broke it, he huffed at her. "I ain't goin' no where." His hold loosened, but didn't let her go. "You're mine, I told you that already."

She grinned, "Yeah, I remember."

"You're movin' in with me." She blinked, he was straight forward, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't nice. "Get your stuff an' bring 'em to my tent. I'm keepin' an eye on you from now on, you ain't goin' anywhere." Daryl seemed adamant about holding her right now, he was tenser then he'd ever been, but not out of discomfort, he was actually worried about her still.

"I believe I can do that." She smiled to him, running her hand along the side of his face. "I really care about you, a lot. I ain't lettin' you go neither."

He shrugged a little, "I can deal with that." He released her, reluctantly, but he did and gestured to the house, he was going to check in on Carol and Sophia with the others.

She just chuckled and joined him, keeping close at his side. Laura was thrilled about the news, moving in with Daryl was definitely going to cause some commotion. She felt her face heat up, after everything that had happened, she made it only further into the group. She had affirmed her place with them now, she wasn't leaving any time soon.

Once they entered the house and found the room Sophia was staying in, Laura smiled at seeing the girl looking so much better, happy even though she was in pain.

Carol was sitting on the side of the bed, her hand running through Sophia's hair lovingly.

Laura almost couldn't believe it herself, Sophia was back, alive, with the group and with her mother.

Things really started to look up.


	27. How to be a Walker

Laura came into the room to see Sophia sitting on a bed, her back propped up with piles of pillows, a blanket and sheet over her and Carol sitting on the edge of the bed just smiling at Sophia.

Everyone was smiling and laughing now, they couldn't believe she was alive and yet, there she was, breathing in front of them.

Laura knew that Sophia was in some pain, the medicine could only do so much and while everyone talked to Sophia and Carol, their faces smiling so brightly that if a stranger walked in at this exact moment, she was certain they'd forget about the world gone to hell and just laugh along with the group.

The sight of the group so happy made Laura feel a little better about herself and her condition. She still had her doubts about her situation, the Voice in her head that told her to _eat_ people, the sounds she could make, her sudden viciousness when in any form of danger, and what happens if she did turn.

At the moment though, Laura shrugged those thoughts off and just enjoyed the moment. They didn't have many chances to relish in a happy event, but Sophia's return meant the world to the group and all they wanted to do is experience it.

Daryl was right behind her, leaning against the wall and they both looked on at the scene. Everyone crowded up in the room with such joy that Laura couldn't believe that any being had the ability to smile so _hard_.

She kept herself to the back of the group, just watching as everyone enjoyed having Sophia back.

Rick was holding Lori and Carl close, Sophia's return making him joyful and he embraced his family. Others like Glenn and T-Dog would shove each other when making a joke or just playing around.

Andrea was shaking her head in disbelief, a wide grin on her face. She didn't speak, but looked on as the group enjoyed the rare moment of absolute happiness.

To Laura's surprise, and for the first time ever, Shane was smiling too. She remembered him from back at the camp in Atlanta, he was kind to her, helped her out, even extended a hand in a kind of friendship. One she never got the chance to expand upon and, looking at Shane now, she wasn't sure she ever wanted to.

Not just because of what he did, but because of how he acted. His sarcastic remarks when they had serious discussions, his snapping at people... When Laura looked at Shane now she couldn't see the man she met at the quarry. The one who helped set up her tent, who offered his help whenever she wanted it, who sat on that RV roof with her and talked about hope and how he was thankful that she arrived because it gave people _hope_.

Laura never thought about it, she didn't want to after the CDC, after what happened when Shane pointed that gun at her head for the first time. She just refused to consider that Shane was changing, this world was changing him and, to a certain extent, it was changing everyone in the camp.

Rick looked worse then ever, he was angry, stressed, exhausted, and sad all the time now. Laura could still remember when Rick was reunited with his wife and son, how he cried out to them and held them much like Carol held Sophia when Laura brought Sophia to the farmhouse.

There was such a _change_ in the group and Laura hadn't even noticed it, or didn't take the time to, she didn't know which one, but when she saw the group talking and laughing... She actually _really_ looked at them all.

Everyone in the room looked like they'd been through hell in the last few hours and maybe they had, Laura wasn't around to see it.

What had happened to make the group so stressed out? Looking so afraid and worried even while they were smiling?

As Laura speculated on the group she wanted to call friend and family, she hadn't noticed what was happening with Sophia.

Sophia began to cry that the room grew a little tenser. Hershel was beside the bed trying to check her for injuries, Carol was trying to ask her what was wrong and everyone in the room got worried if something was going wrong, that she was hurt bad and needed medical attention.

The group stayed back to let Herschel work, but he wasn't finding anything and Sophia wouldn't answer Carol.

Laura glanced at Daryl behind her and left him on the wall as she pushed passed the group, coming up behind Carol. She put a hand on her shoulder and gestured her to stand aside. Carol complied and stepped back reluctantly, watching as Laura scooted up onto the bed.

She looked around them until Laura concluded what she needed wasn't there. Everyone was talking.

"What's wrong with her? Is she alright?" Carol asked, standing close behind Laura. "Is she alright?" A mixture of voices started asking after Sophia, wondering if she was hurt or healthy.

Even Laura's head started to hurt at the noises. She knew that her senses and Sophia's were alike now, that the little girl who never would've thought about her five senses before more then the usual stuff was forced to deal with them being turned up, the noises, the smells, the lights, it was all too much for Sophia and Laura remembered how it felt.

Laura refused to let Sophia suffer like she had.

"Everyone, shut up!" She yelled over the group, she didn't meant to be forceful with them, but she had to be just to give Sophia enough time to hear her own thoughts again. Laura actually took notice that Dale, the only one she had spoken to about her hearing, was being very quiet. He took their talk into consideration and was using his knowledge to _not_ be part of the problem with Sophia.

Laura would've thanked him for being so thoughtful, but she had to tend to Sophia first, she knew she'd talk to Dale later on.

Immediately the room fell silent, but not without someone speaking up. "Is she okay?" It was Carol and Laura understood motherly concern, especially after just getting her daughter back. "She will be." Laura spoke very quietly, it was almost lost to Carol, but she picked it up barely.

"Someone get me some materiel long and thin, like the sleeve of a long sleeved shirt." Laura turned to see Patricia reaching into the wardrobe and pulling out an well used shirt. She took up scissors from the vanity and cut off the sleeve, handing it to Laura quickly. She wasn't expecting the woman to _actually_ cut the sleeve off a shirt, but she wouldn't complain.

Laura pulled the sleeve over Sophia's eyes and tied it like a blindfold. This confused the group, but thankfully no one spoke against it.

"I need more blankets, small ones if you have 'em." The moment she put the request in, Patricia and Maggie left the room to get what she needed. She could hear them running through the house, away from the room and to a closet before returning.

They had three blankets, plus the one Sophia was wearing from the barn, it was plenty. Laura took one at a time, pulling the blanket and sheet from the bed down to uncover Sophia.

She wrapped up Sophia's legs first with the folded up thin blankets, then her arms, before pulling the main blanket over her and tucking her in. Sophia laid on the bed and had stopped crying for a little while now.

"Talk to me," Laura spoke quietly, making sure the pillows encased Sophia comfortably. "I-I feel... f-funny."

"I know, you will for a little while, but it'll go away. I promise." Laura leaned back, satisfied with her work, before looking up and around the room. The group was staring at Laura's actions, but she didn't care.

She got up from the bed and went to the curtains, closing them to minimize the light in the room. It would relax Sophia more the darker the room was and since the group stopped talking and making noise, Sophia could rest without having to deal with her new senses which were overpowering at first. Laura hated them when she first woke up, but she got used to them as time went on.

Laura came back to Sophia, "We're all leavin' now, but Carol will be here with ya, okay?" She patted Sophia's arm gently, the blankets provided much needed comfort. "Ain't that right?" She looked over her shoulder to see Carol nodding. "I'm right here, sweetie." Carol answered and, as Laura got up from the bed, Carol took her place.

"Everyone, out. Leave Carol with Sophia." Laura urged and they all slowly began to file out of the room, leaving Carol to console Sophia. _As it should be_. Laura grinned as the last person out, Rick, closed the door carefully, as one would when sneaking around a house with people sleeping.

"What was that?" Rick asked first, but Hershel stopped him. "Let's discuss this in the dinning room. We have a lot to talk about." The group agreed and Laura wondered if Hershel was, to some degree, thinking about the family he had in the barn, but Laura couldn't help them, the damage to their bodies was far too extensive to even consider bringing them back.

Laura followed everyone back down the stairs, Sophia was resting in Maggie's room from what she could tell. Pictures of Maggie and her father around, clothes she had seen Maggie wore before folded up.

She wasn't sure if she really wanted to go into detail about her state and, now, Sophia's too. Laura was concerned that it would only enforce the idea that she is a walker, though she isn't anymore really, Laura felt the same way about herself at times. She would never willingly hurt them, she didn't feel the desire to do so in any fashion.

The Voice did though and it made her _want_ to _want_ to do those things. Laura scoffed at herself, _Like that makes any degree of sense_.

Her main problem was, after explaining her situation and the one she now shared with Sophia, would the group still look at her as one of them? She had brought Sophia back to them, of course that won her a definite level of respect from the group, but after telling them about herself and what it meant to be revived from a walker state, would they be able to look passed her differences and focus on the good?

Could Laura do it? She'd been worrying so much lately about what she was and what she could or may do that she never really stopped to think about what she felt strongest about.

She supposed it didn't really matter, she would have to explain somethings at least and maybe, _just maybe_ , they would understand, through their understanding accept her.

Laura sucked in a deep breath, she would answer all their questions, give them what they wanted. Like Rick said, give them what they need and refuse to let them down.

She would refuse to allow them to think of her any less then she is. It wasn't much, but she wasn't a bad person and felt that her struggle actually merited something. A solid place within the group is what she wanted most.

They all found a place in the dinning room, some taking a seat while others opted to stand, leaning on the wall or the furniture.

Rick stood nearby, almost as a protective barrier for her against anyone who didn't like her answers. Like Shane, who was standing in the far back.

"Looks like we'll be spending our day in here." T-Dog joked, but Laura didn't get it. She did realize that everyone was inside the farmhouse earlier and that never happened, Laura sent Rick a questioning look, but he just shook his head slightly, gesturing _later_ as people got settled into the room.

"Now, I remember just yesterday Rick and I discussing about a cure for this and last night he spoke so surely that there was not a cure." Hershel began, he stood at the head of the table, Maggie sat at the head, Laura and Rick were right beside Hershel. "Yet here you are and that little girl, who had this _illness_ for lack of a better term, and now she's alive again. Now I want to know if you knew about this, Rick."

Rick shook his head again, "There was talk, we didn't know for certain. We prepared for the worst, but hoped for the best, like always. Laura went into that barn to _try_ , none of us knew if it would work."

"But you knew that there was that possibility. I want to know why you didn't say anything before your man did what he did at my barn." Hershel seemed a little annoyed, but he wanted answers just like the others. _  
_

"It isn't a cure." Laura stepped in, defending Rick who knew less about it. Laura didn't know much, but she had more then Rick did. "It doesn't _save_ 'em, it doesn't reverse the virus, it just... gives back memory and self control. We call it a cure because there's no better way of explainin' it. While it can bring back people who haven't been infected for long, it doesn't make them a fully functional normal human bein' again. I don't know if there's a way of doin' that."

"And yet that little girl is up there, right now, breathing again, asking for her mother. _That_ is a cure." Hershel pointed upstairs, Laura knew he had family in that barn and that must be the reason, or mostly the reason, of him being so disturbed by this news. Laura had to approach this carefully.

"Hershel, sir, I went into that barn before Shane cleared it. I went, on Rick's request, to see if I _could_ help the walkers in that barn. I tried, I really did, but I wouldn't bring back any of those walkers." Hershel gave her a very prodding look, "Because they were older walkers, they were wastin' away, most of them too far gone to come back. Sophia was only a walker for a few days, she still had a chance."

"You're saying that if a person is infected for a certain period of time, you cannot cure them?"

"I can, at least, now I know I can, but the pain it would put them in. Imagine fallin' asleep one day then wakin' up the next with your arm off, your jaw removed, an' a giant hole in your side. All injuries completely unattended to." Laura had no better way to put this. "The agonizin' pain you'd be in for the few hours or so you'd die from blood loss or 'cause internal organs were damaged. You can't survive somethin' like that, it would only cause more pain an' I won't put someone through that."

He nodded mindfully, he was thinking on it, but he didn't like it. Laura wished she could've helped his wife and stepson, she really wished she could, but there was nothing she could do for any of those walkers. They had turned a long time ago, the damage was too much.

"I would like to talk more on this later," Hershel closed that part of the conversation. "Right now I think it's important to find out what you were doing with that little girl. I'm sure everyone would like to know."

"Of course, anythin', just ask." Laura was anxious to finally be able to explain to the group what it meant to be _cured_ like she was. To tell them what she dealt with, to make them understand her better. Lessen fear hopefully.

"Let's start with what happened with Sophia just a moment ago, is she alright? Is it anything we should be worried about?" Rick started off with what everyone was wondering. It was a simple question, but it had a long explanation.

She grinned nervously. "All I did was give her some form of comfort. Bein' brought back after gettin' turned is painful, the memories that come back, headaches that feel like the world's shakin', body aches so bad I can't tell ya how bad. So I gave her what I wanted when I woke up after bein' cured."

Lori frowned a little, "You blindfolded her, wrapped her arms and legs up, she can't move like that. Is that really necessary?"

Laura nodded, "When I first woke up all light hurt, it stung pretty bad and my body hurt so bad. So I wrapped her up, I didn't get that kinda' treatment when I came back. I know it feels good 'cause even today it makes me feel better then just layin' in a bed or doin' anythin' really. I'm most comfortable at night, it just feels better."

"You don't seem to have a problem with light anymore though, is Sophia going to get better?" Andrea asked, leaning on the table.

"It'll get easier as time goes on, but as far as I know it'll be always be there to a certain extent. The same goes for sound an', I'm sorry 'bout shoutin' at y'all like that, but y'all's normal voice sounds like really loud talkin' to me an' I suspect it does to her too. Don't even get me started on when y'all shout, 'specially when near me. It does _not_ feel good." Laura rubbed her temples, the few times they had actually hollered and shouted had felt like she was next to a jackhammer. It was always unpleasant.

"It's alright, we understand." Rick rested a hand on the cabinet beside him, leaning on it. "Is there anything we should look out for? Any problems? Anything we shouldn't do with or around her?"

Laura just shrugged, there wasn't anything that set her off as far as she knew. Aside from the Voice, but she would _never_ talk about it. "At first, all I can say is keep her down, let her rest an' get over the worst of it. After that, just keep your voices low around her at first, to let her adjust at her own rate. There's not much else to tell, 'cept that, like me, she heals slower an' when injured loses blood slower. So if she ever gets hurt real bad she won't bleed out half as fast as y'all would."

"Okay, we can work with that." Rick smiled to Laura, "I think, until Sophia gets better, Laura should be close enough so that if anything goes wrong or Sophia needs help, you can help. Is that alright with you?"

Laura was more the happy to do that. "Absolutely. She wasn't turned for very long, so her recovery time shouldn't take near as long as mine. 'Specially with people actually lookin' out for her."

"Now, we've all had a long day, I'm sure everyone has things they have to do." Rick dismisses the group, "Just get some rest everyone."

As the group disperses, Laura stands completely still. She didn't think Rick would give everyone a day off of their duties just because she brought Sophia back. It was a big deal to the group, sure, but they all had important work.

Yet there they went, most of them passing Laura on the way out, some put their hands on her shoulder in comfort or thanks.

Laura didn't really know what to think about all of this, something had happened but she didn't know what and wanted to know. Rick looked exhausted, like there had been a major event she wasn't party to.

In fact, to Laura, they all looked a little older today. It wasn't too late in the day, afternoon, but nothing appeared wrong at the farm. She checked the group, making sure every last one was still there and they were.

No one was missing or hurt, from what she could see, so what was wrong with them all?

She expected the excitement from the group like they all were when they were with Sophia but the moment they left that room, it was like all the good emotions they had when looking at Sophia just disappeared. Vanished into thin air.

She had to know what was going on.

So she spun on her heel and followed after Rick, who had stepped out of the farmhouse with the others, but remained on the porch while everyone else went to tend to their business.

She came up behind Rick and tapped his shoulder, catching his attention.

"Hey, Laura." He had a tired look on his face, but still managed to smile at her. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yeah, this may seem like I'm proddin', but I just gotta' know." Laura leaned against the railing of the front porch, "Everyone seems so... glum. They always do on a certain level, but today... they all looked like somethin' big was on their minds. What's goin' on Rick?"

He looked away from her and out over the field to the camp where most people had gathered again, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed exasperatingly. "After Shane and the barn... Hershel wanted us off the farm. I thought we might have to at that moment, I wanted to talk, but Hershel was devastated." He turned to her again, "Then Beth collapsed, went into shock. We looked for Hershel, but he'd left, just up and left. We went out to look for him in town, at the local bar and he was drinking."

"I didn't figure Hershel for a drinker, his religion an' all that." Laura frowned, an alcoholic didn't sound like Hershel at all.

"Neither did I really, but Maggie told us he was a heavy drinker, then she was born and he stopped." Laura grinned at that, Hershel gave up drinking for his daughter. "We talked to Hershel, convinced him to come back to the farm. He understands now, about the walkers and what they are." Rick shook his head, "Right before we left, two men walked in, survivors, said their names were Dave and Tony."

Laura could see where this was going. A struggle had to have broken out for Rick to be this distressed, otherwise, he wouldn't have that look on his face that told Laura he was extremely bothered by something. "What happened, Rick?"

"We talked, they tried to get us to tell them where the farm is, to let them come back with us. I refused, of course, but they kept asking." Rick's expression was hard and thoughtful. "They drew on us, I was able to shoot them first. I killed them to protect the farm, I _had_ to. After that, we tried to leave again, but their friends showed up. They were about to come in the bar, Glenn blocked the door, and they knew we were in there. I told them what happened, that they drew on us first. I had no choice."

Laura stepped closer to Rick, putting her hand on his back, her other hand on his arm. "I believe you, I get it, you know I do."

He glanced to her and smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, I guess you do." With another heavy sigh, Rick leaned against the railing too. "They fired on us, we fought back as best we could. We went to make it to the car, get back to the farm. They tried to cut us off, but there were walkers coming. A lot of them. One of their men was left for dead, he had gotten injured... I couldn't just _leave_ him to bleed out, if he made it that long... I brought him back to the farm."

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to form a response. It was hard to think of anything with such news, so much had happened in such short time. Laura couldn't believe it, there wasn't anything she could say to make this better. Rick made a choice, another hard choice that landed him in hot water with some of the group and empathy from the other half.

"Rick, I... I don't really know what to say about that. Groups, both good and bad exist out there an' I don't know about the one you found, but they can't be too good if two of theirs were willing to open fire on you. Then the rest of 'em." Laura reasoned as best she could, but she had so little information to go on. "What're you gonna' do with this person?"

"His name is Randall, he's injured, but I figure that when he gets better, we'll give him some water, food, and drive him out far from the farm." Rick half heartedly shrugged, "Just leave him there, give him a chance without risking the farm. That's all I can think to do."

"It's alright Rick, I agree." Laura pulled his arm to her, making him turn completely to her. "I know you only try to do what's best for the group, you try so hard and this world is hard, I think you're doin' all you can really, with everythin' the way it is. Just know I got your back when you need me."

He smirked, "It's starting to seem like whenever I'm making tough decisions that you appear. I'm grateful for you help, I am."

"I figure bein' a leader in this kind of world, these situations we find ourselves in, ain't easy. Everyone needs a little help here or there. All I want is to be there when you need someone to listen to you, or to talk to." Laura gave him a sad smile, "When you do this, I wanna' help you. However I can."

"I guess you're right about that." He nodded solemnly, "It won't be for a while, Randall has to heal up before we take him out. Hershel doesn't know how long it'll be before he can walk, but we're doing what we can. Until then, there's some things to do around camp. Just make sure you're around in case Sophia needs you, that's all I'm asking right now."

"Of course, I'm packin' in with Daryl now, so if you want me an' can't find me, you find him." She gave Rick a wink before leaving him to think about this Randall and their plans.

Laura hated this, everything that had happened and she wasn't around for any of it. She almost felt a little left out, but she had a good reason. Sophia's return meant so much to the group, she was sure they could _overlook_ her disappearance.

With everything that's going on, Laura wasn't sure this group would do so well though. Rick getting shot at by that other group, Randall's arrival, the group looked so torn and Laura didn't know what to do.

Instead of dwelling on the group's troubles, she went to her tent. She was going to collect her things and break down her tent, she was excited about staying with Daryl now. She knew he only did it because he was worried about her, with her past and all the things that had happened that she told him about, he got a little disturbed.

Laura was beyond thrilled that Daryl cared and trusted her enough to let her stay with him. Demanded it really, but Laura felt like that was his way of _asking_. If she said _no_ , he'd probably take it as rejection and Laura was doing anything _but_ rejecting him.

So she reached her tent and began stuffing all the clothes she scavenged from Atlanta before she had even met the group, all the clothes still clean. Laura picked up her scarf, the one she used when she was in the city and had used to cover up the lower half of her face. She smiled at it, happy that she didn't have to use it anymore.

With her clothes packed, her blankets and sheets folded neatly into her duffle bag, she zipped up the bag and set it down outside the tent.

She had no idea how to break down the tent, but she saw where a few of the thin poles connected at the top and reached up to pull them out. They popped out and the tent collapsed.

Laura jumped back with a little yelp as it fell in on itself until it was flat on the ground. _Figured it out_. She laughed at herself and began to pull the poles out and rolled up the tent, sticking the poles safely inside the tent like a wrapping.

She turned around to the cars and stuffed the rolled up tent inside the back of the SUV where another spare tent was rolled up inside.

When Laura was done, she went back and picked up her duffle, putting the strap on her shoulder and was content with her work. With a smile, she looked around camp and headed to where Daryl's tent was.

Only to find it not there.

She frowned in thought, she could've sworn it was there.

Laura stood there, in camp, looking around for Daryl's tent which was no where in sight. She was confused, it was there the other day when she had visited Daryl when he was laid up. She could see the grass was dead under where the tent had been, so she wasn't mistaken, but it was _not_ there now. _  
_

Turning around, she saw Andrea on top of the RV, a little worry crept up on Laura as she wondered if, by chance one day, she was approaching camp and Andrea mistook her for a walker.

Laura huffed, she may have to work on that later with Rick.

Approaching the RV, Laura knew the last time she spoke with Andrea wasn't exactly left on a good note, but she hoped the woman could look passed that and be able to answer her question.

Laura knocked on the RV to catch her attention. Andrea looked down to see Laura just below her. "Hey, what's up?" It was a little hesitant, but she was showing that she could ignore their last talk.

"I'm lookin' for Daryl's tent, but it ain't where it used to be." Laura made a jokingly tired face, "Would you happen to know where it's at?"

Andrea put a hand over her eyes and looked out over the fields. "Head straight in that direction," She pointed off to the fields on the far side of the house. "Just keep going until you reach the trees. He moved his tent out there last night."

Laura blinked, spying over the fields, it was too far to see. "Thanks Andrea." She sighed, it was a hike to get out there and she wanted to know why Daryl moved his tent so far out. It was dangerous for him to be alone, a walker could get the drop on him and all it took was one bite.

She started up, but Andrea stopped her. "Hey Laura?" Laura gazed up at Andrea, "I'm sorry, about Shane... What happened at the barn, I know why he did it, but it wasn't right. Our talk earlier, when you told me about him and you... I didn't really want to hear it, but I like you, I hope you feel better soon."

Laura ran her hand carefully over her neck, "Thanks Andrea and we're alright, no hard feelin's." Andrea smiled, "Good... Now go on. His tent is a little ways out there."

"See ya' Andrea." Laura waved to her as she restarted her trek to Daryl's tent.

She took Andrea's directions and hiked over the fields. Laura loved looking at them, loved exploring them even though it was mostly just clear fields. Laura paused for a moment to remove her shoes. Her brace would press into her foot, but she didn't care at this point, she just wanted to feel the grass beneath her feet for at least a little while.

It was a little hard to get around the brace on her foot, but when she did she felt like running through the tall grass. She smiled, a city girl born and raised, she never thought about it before, but she had never felt grass like this before. There was grass in pots and planters, but she never left the city and never went to any parks.

Laura frowned, she spent most of her time hiding away. She didn't want to go out of the house, people always made her nervous. She didn't really know why exactly, but the logical part of her brain that paid attention in psychology classes told her it was because the only person she ever really knew was her father.

And she didn't want anyone else in her family like her father or her mother for that matter. Somewhere in her head she was preparing for anyone who she knew to _be_ like them.

Which Laura scoffed at, she wasn't doing it consciously if at all. She didn't except Rick to lash out at her just because she asked for him nor Daryl if she got close to him. She never thought anything like that about the entire group, not counting Shane of course, but everyone else seemed fine to her. Even if they did shun her, and they weren't anymore to her knowledge, she still didn't think they would just _attack_ her or beat her up just _because_.

She laughed at the thought, it was ridiculous and unreasonable. These people were good people, sans Shane again, and looked after each other. Laura had long since decided that because she could walk with walkers, that she was going to protect them anyway she could.

This, naturally, would prove more difficult then she could ever really expect, but she still chose it even though she knew that there could come a day when she regretted that decision.

It didn't matter really, she cared about them, she could become infatuated very quickly, but she always remained close to anything she cared about until they were removed from her forcibly. She smirked, the only thing that would separate her from this group would be her death, otherwise, she'd stay with them.

Her last breath would be spent fighting for them.

With Laura's absent mindedness, she nearly missed Daryl's tent completely, but the blue of the tent caught the corner of her eye and she stopped.

His tent was nestled just on the edge of the treeline, in between a few far spread trees, there was a collection of wood, a small spot for a fire, and what looked like an old stone fireplace just standing alone, no building or signs of a building that it belonged to anywhere. Laura was interested in it, but ignore it for the time being.

While she looked around, she noticed a string between some trees near the fireplace and tent that had a few squirrels and rabbits hanging off of it. A normal sight when it came to Daryl Dixon.

She went to the tent and opened the flap, dropping her duffle on the far side, but there was no Daryl at the camp or in the tent. She momentarily wondered where he must've wondered off to, but she took another look at the squirrels and figured he went hunting again. Even though he had plenty of meat to sustain himself for another day or two.

Laura didn't feel like leaving to search out people from the group right now, she just got to Daryl's camp and wasn't ready to leave it just yet.

So she went back inside the tent and unzipped her duffle, finding clean clothes to put on while she waited for Daryl to return.

After a little bit of shuffling, she pulled out a plain black tank top and a rather new looking pair of jeans. She gave the jeans a hateful look, but once she glanced around the tent for something to cut jeans with, she found one of Daryl's knives, it wasn't his hunting knife which he no doubt had with him, and it didn't look like one he ever carried around.

She shrugged, if it worked it worked, she didn't care where it came from.

Sticking the blade through the left leg of the jeans, she began tearing it off. When the pant leg came off finally, she packed it back into the duffle and zipped it up.

Removing her shirt first, she slipped on the clean tank top happily, relishing in the feel of new _clean_ clothing. It felt like a luxury now, after so long of running around in dirty, sweaty clothes.

Her jeans came as more of a challenge, she always had an issue putting pants on because of the brace.

Carefully, Laura began to remove the brace, her leg limp and she didn't dare move it while her brace was off. It was difficult getting the contraption on and off, but she didn't want to be in pants that had remnants of the dirt and blood she washed off of Sophia on it.

Slowly, she shimmied out of the pants and into her new jeans, which were a little snug, to be expected, then threw the old pants on top of her duffle.

Laura reached to put her brace back on at the exact moment Daryl opened the tent.

Her eyes shot up to see him leaning in, watching her with interest. "Oh, hey, just changing clothes." She smiled and, sitting on the edge of his cot, went back to putting the brace back on. The metal clinking as she slid it up her bare leg.

"Need help?" He finally spoke, watching her put the brace on her leg. She shook her head, "I got it, thanks though."

He nodded and left the tent, he must've heard the sounds she made from outside the tent and came in to investigate. She was just happy that he didn't feel the need to _investigate_ everything with his crossbow. Sometimes she wondered if one day she'd be mistaken for a walker and end up getting shot.

 _Again, talk to Rick about it._ Laura chided to herself, she had to speak with Rick to see if there was a way to avoid that kind of an accident. Or in Shane's case, attack.

When the brace was back on her leg firmly and she felt comfortable enough to stand, she left the tent, but not before putting Daryl's knife back where she found it. Leaving the tent, Laura saw Daryl stringing up his kill.

She went straight to him, "So, packed my stuff up an' shoved 'em in your tent." She shifted on her feet, kicking up a little bit of dirt as she watched him continue on his work. "I got a question."

He glanced to her for a second, but didn't stop. "What about?"

"You moved your tent. When I got my stuff an' was comin' to your tent, it wasn't there. I looked all around the camp an' it just wasn't there." Laura explained, trying to sound docile, she knew Daryl didn't like people prodding him for answers, she wanted to know why his camp was out here now though. "I asked Andrea an' she pointed me out here... I just wanna' know why it's so far out here, is all." _  
_

Daryl stopped this time and turned to face her, "Those people ain't my problem no more, ain't concernin' myself with 'em." He answered, a slight growl. "Figurin' it's best to get away from 'em all. Let 'em deal with their own problems now."

Laura's brow furrowed, she looked back to the farmhouse, she wanted to be close to it. _No_. She didn't care actually, for herself that is. She wanted _him_ close to it, people to watch his back if she ever missed anything. It was risky out here alone.

"They're good people Daryl, why do you want to pull away from 'em?" She crossed her arms, sending Daryl an uncomfortable and worried look.

"Like I said, they ain't my problem an' I ain't theirs. Get some distance, so they understand I ain't here for 'em." He snarled at the farmhouse, glaring daggers at it. "Don't worry 'bout it, I got you. Not lettin' nothin' happen to you again." He was now looking at her, but not her face, at her neck. There was a very dark and harsh looking bruise forming there.

Laura stepped forward, a hand on Daryl's chest. "It ain't safe out here alone, Daryl, you can't be out here. What if a walker comes by? Or a bunch of walkers? I can't keep 'em all off of ya."

He made an incredulous face at her, "Not me you should be thinkin' about. Keepin' you out of danger up here, they can't get you here."

"Did you really move up here 'cause of what Shane did?" She sighed, it couldn't be his _only_ reason if one at all. "Daryl, is this about Sophia? I mean, I know she was a walker but she's better now. She came back to us."

Daryl turned around, a low rumble coming from him. "This ain't about Sophia. Not anymore." He had the crossbow in his right hand and he clenched his fist around the grip. "Son of a bitch nearly killed ya, couldn't stop 'im neither. Put a gun to your head... Got a few hits on 'im, but they stopped me. Shouldn't have stuck their noses in my business, he could've killed you an' I was just returnin' the favor."

Laura came up behind Daryl, cautiously putting her hands on his sides. He tensed, as usual, but not as much as he had before. So she very slowly slid her arms until they were around his noted how uncomfortable he must be, but, like before, he wasn't pulling away. It was the most encouraging sign she'd ever gotten out of him aside from the kiss _he_ gave her earlier.

She wanted him to be used to her wanting to touch him, because she does want to touch him more. It was magnetic to her, after their starting contact, that which initialized them showing that they wanted each other.

And she did want him, she confessed that maybe it was more then she really should, but she felt like they had so little time to do the normal. To take it slow and easy, to wait on each other, and she didn't think Daryl was that kind of person, to just ease into a relationship like other people did. He either wanted her or he didn't, simple as that, and while he had a hard time showing it, the moments when he did were _very clear._

"I don't want you up here without someone to watch your back. I can only do so much." She rested her head on his back. "I can't stop enough walkers, I've never killed one, y'know? Never had a reason 'til y'all showed up. Then I couldn't think of anythin' but keepin' y'all safe as best I can, but I ain't strong, I can't do it alone."

He seemed to just be taking in her words before she felt him shift a little, not away from her, but he set his crossbow to lean against the tree beside them.

"Don't worry 'bout me, I can take care of myself." Daryl stated and she knew he could, but again, there was only so much one person could do, even if that person is him. Daryl grabbed her arms and loosened them to turn around and face her, not taking her arms off from him though.

He brought a hand up to her neck and very carefully touched the sensitive, bruised skin there. She winced slightly and he got just that much angrier. "No one is hurtin' my woman again." He ground out, moving his hand to the back of her head and leaned down to her, kissing her forcefully.

She smiled against him, she loved it when he was a little rougher with her, but he was being cautious about making her move at all because of her neck and jaw. She opened herself to him, just enjoying their kiss while it lasted, Daryl had a tendency to shut down for a little bit after kissing her.

As his arm wrapped around her, crushing her to him, she felt all that better. She didn't mind that her neck throbbed now because of the force, or that her jaw strained at the force of their passionate kiss. Not even the multitudes of bruises that he was grabbing onto hurt enough to want him to stop and she doubted they ever would.

When he began to lean over her, her back arched against him and the kiss grew more heated, her arms were around his neck, and she felt herself growing more and more excited at the amount on contact. His hands both fell from their previous places and trailed down her sides until one was above her hip, gripping her to him and the other on her hip, pressing him against her.

It was thrilling, she never felt this with anyone before, having them grab onto her, hold her to them with bruising force, or to feel their hands all over her. To feel his body against her in such a way that made her feel like tearing his clothes off out in the open.

He moved her to the tree and pressed her against it, giving him more ability for his hands to grab at her, pull her even tighter to him until they were impossibly close and she was thoroughly his to feel freely. He broke the kiss, kissing and sucking from her non-bruised jaw to her neck, the sensitive skin there was sore but his mouth on her neck felt like fire.

Then his hand went to her thigh and began to pull it up around his waist, grinding his bulging masculinity to her and she froze, still as stone.

She _had_ felt someones hands roaming her before, felt someone pressing her to them, kissing her as she struggled, biting her neck, groping her and ground themselves between her legs.

She went rigid and Daryl picked up on it quickly, especially when her hands shot from his back to his chest, separating them.

He looked up at her, seeing her eyes screwed shut and frowning. She fought against her memories, but they kept hitting her one right after the other. With his hands over her, his heat radiating though her, she couldn't take it and her mind went to the darkest places it could find.

A hand came up to her face and she flinched away from it, but it came back and held the side of her face firmly. "Open your eyes." She knew it was him, it was Daryl, the man she _cared_ about but all she could see in her head where those _other_ men.

She pressed her face into his hand, bringing hers up to grab onto it tightly. Her face was contorted in anger, but when she opened her eyes to see him in font of her, she knew she looked sad, but couldn't hold it back.

"There's my girl." He was doing his best to comfort her, he knew about what had happened, and Laura wondered if he expected this kind of reaction from it. "You're alright, come on."

He stepped back and lead her away from the tree, taking her into the tent and shoved off excess blankets and pillows, having her sit on the cot. She shook her head, running her hand through her hair.

"I'm... sorry, I didn't think it would be such a big deal." She gave him a distressed smile. He was crouched in front of her and frowned, "Ya ain't ready for that, I get it. Got nothin' to be sorry for." He bit his thumb again, she found that nervous tick of his endearing.

She nodded, taking a moment to force those memories back into the recesses of her head.

Laura honestly didn't believe that her memories would cause such trouble, she knew she would be a little hesitant, but she assumed that she could handle it, get passed what had happened.

She counted the time between now and when she was taken by those men, it wasn't that long ago. Just a few weeks ago, it was still fresh in her mind and evident on her body. She could feel the marks they left and at first wasn't concerned about it, but her and Daryl just had a very _close_ and _heated_ moment, one she wanted to explore more fully.

But those thoughts, every time she saw herself in that _position_ with Daryl, it excited her, but to actually be put in that situation was _completely_ different. It felt like she was pinned and she couldn't get away.

She felt trapped.

With a sigh, she managed to regain herself, calmed down, and was able to looked at Daryl who stayed dutifully by her. "Hey." Her voice was small, but it was enough to make him look at her. "Think I can learn to skin and gut today? Gotta' eat sometime."

He smirked and nodded at her. "You up to it?" He stood up and Laura followed, a little unsure on her feet.

"Don't worry 'bout it." She waved him off and he lead her out of the tent, he didn't help her out, he wouldn't coddle her, but he was near to make sure she was alright, in the off chance that she wasn't.

Daryl was a little more careful around her, but he wasn't babying her, just checking in on her to make sure she wouldn't lock down again. When he was sure that she wasn't going to, he continued on with her as normal.

He took a squirrel for him and one for her and started showing her what to do.

Laura needed to get her mind off of what just happened. She had enjoyed his advances a _lot_ , but when he crossed a line she didn't even know existed, she wasn't capable of putting her struggles behind her and actually _be_ with him.

She felt weak for it, like she wasn't strong enough to _get over it_. She knew she was being hard on herself, she had dealt with rape victims before when she was an intern and when she started her first year as a doctor. To see them fight so hard to get passed their trauma, Laura couldn't stand seeing it, the injuries caused and the mental damage, but almost every last one she ever met, the victims, had pulled through.

Laura just assumed it didn't take very long, that it was a crime committed and the victim was able to push it aside shortly thereafter.

It wasn't the case though, she knew it now. She never went home with those women and actually saw how they moved passed the trauma, how they dealt with it. She never was with them long enough to see how their everyday life was effected.

She rationalized that she'd be a better doctor with rape patients now, because she could relate and comfort. To be a bigger help then telling them about pain medications or talk about psychologists that could help.

Laura now realized that made it sound like she was telling them they were messed up in the head and possibly crazy now, so they should seek help.

She sighed, she was here now, with Daryl, near the woods she feared getting lost in all the time, and with a group she cared about. If she wanted comfort, she had plenty of it.

Strangely enough, watching Daryl demonstrate how to skin a squirrel provided a great amount of stress relief.

Watching someone pull the skin of a dead animal was comforting.

 _I'm fucking crazy._ Laura cracked a smile, Daryl noticed, but didn't speak up about it. She was over that bump in the road, she finally put it aside for now and had dealt with a part of her life that was holding her back. She knew it wasn't gone, but it was progress.

And she felt a little better at the sound of that. A lot of progress had been made in the last few days. With the farm, Sophia, and her relationship with Daryl.

Laura actually started to see the brighter side of things. So much good had happened in such short amount of time, but she had been too busy focusing on the bad that had happened or the bad that _could possibly_ happen to pay attention to the little things.

Sophia's return was a _big_ thing and it made Laura smile outright now.

She was so happy to see Sophia back with Carol, the group was troubled, she knew it, with Randall and all, but it was just another trial of this new world. One she was certain that this group could beat.

And that made her happy.


	28. The Two of Us

By the time night came around and Daryl finally went to sleep, Laura stayed in the tent with him. She was always awake and at that point she was happy that she didn't, but also hated not being able to rest with him like normal.

However, she used her reasoning to understand that in this world sleep could be dangerous and her being awake all the time made her the best watch dog out there. She could keep an eye out for danger whenever it may appear. Her more selfish side complained about the inability to close her eyes and sleep, only to wake up and find him beside her in a sleepy haze.

Laura felt a little grumpy knowing that she'd never know what that felt like. She lived in a different world now and so did he, one that posed more of a threat to him then it did to her. She had to worry about people, humans, but he had to think about the walkers _and_ other people, never knowing who has good intentions and who didn't.

This everyday struggle made Laura hate everything about the world around her, all the danger, the risk, near death experiences happened almost daily, and somehow she found someone to share it with. She wondered if she wouldn't have just given up if she hadn't found this group. Being alone with walkers all the time would drive her insane, humans were social and needed interaction on some level, living alone for too long could do things to someones mind.

She didn't want to end up going crazy, she just wanted to _be_ with people again even though she had never sought out company before this apocalypse, but at least the option to be with people was always there. Now it wasn't, if she lost this group she very thoroughly believed that she wouldn't want to go on alone and the idea that there was a chance she would never have found them...

She shuddered at the thought of being alone in that city for however long it took for someone else to find her. Possibly kill her, mistaking her for a walker or just killing her for whatever she may have on her.

When morning rolled around, Daryl woke up just as the sun was barely showing on the horizon. Laura enjoyed seeing him wake up, it was a rather fast process considering how long it took normal people to get up in the morning.

She remained beside him, her arm on his chest, on her side pressed against him and his arm around her shoulders, using the crook of his shoulder as a pillow of sorts. She felt better then she had in a long time, just feeling him there, his body heat, she could hear his heart beat, and his breathing. It was the single most relaxing thing she'd ever experienced.

As usual though, Daryl decided it was time to start getting up for the day ahead. Laura acknowledged this, "What's planned for the day?" He looked down at her for a moment before staring back through the tent window. He shrugged, "Go huntin' this mornin'. Make some more arrows, runnin' out. Ain't much else."

"Well, I want to check in on Sophia, see how she's doin' today. Probably help around camp." His arm tightened around her, "Not leavin' my sight."

She smiled, "I have to see if Sophia's doin' okay. She may need somethin' an' you know fine well I'm the only one here that can relate to what she's goin' through." Her hand ran in slow circles on his shirt. "'Sides, I got a few things I need to talk to Rick about. Important stuff."

"Like what?" It was a bit of disbelief and hesitance, he didn't want her to go anywhere without him anymore.

"Like what happens if one day I'm walkin' into camp an' they mistake me for a walker. They did with you, they all did, an' you nearly died 'cause of it. You did look like a walker too." She chuckled lazily, "I need to talk to Rick about establishin' a way to tell me from a walker, night an' day. Safety purposes an' that."

"Just don't walk into camp without me. They won't shoot if you say somethin' neither." He answered, but Laura shook her head against him.

"Not good enough. What happens if I'm out there alone for one reason or another, say I either forget to say somethin' or I can't. How will I _not_ get shot?" She insisted, she had a few moments lately where speaking loudly enough for someone to hear her from a distance wasn't possible. After Shane nearly crushed her neck, she couldn't speak clearly, when she first stuttered back after being revived from her walker state shouting, yelling, or anything of the like was near impossible.

He _hmpf'd_ and ran his other hand over his face, "You're not leavin' my sight. I told you."

"I'm gonna' have to do this sometime. While you go out huntin' is the best time, I can't hunt real well an' I've got things to take care of. So you go hunt an' when you get back I'll help prepare what you bring back for food, yeah?" She tried to make it easier, offer something in return for part of the day alone. He was always stubborn though.

"Shane." He just _said_ it like it was acid in his mouth and Laura's eyes closed in thought. Shane was still at camp of course, but she knew he wasn't fool enough to try anything out in the open again. Especially after she just brought Sophia back to them.

She leaned up, bracing herself up on her elbow. "He's not gonna' try nothin' in camp an' I ain't leavin' sight of the others. He's not _that_ stupid, with the others around, he'd get his ass handed to him before he even touched me."

"Don't like it." He growled, but she came forward and kissed his cheek gently. When she leaned back she caught his eyes on her, burning straight through her. "You're hurtin'."

"I'm fine now, I really am." His hand found its way back to her neck, the bruise there and on her jaw caused him to get angry. She knew from what he had said yesterday that he blamed himself for _letting_ her get hurt, but she knew if he could have stopped Shane, the ex-cop would probably not be alive right now. She'd be lying if she said the bruise didn't hurt, now or when she got it. It was a rather serious grip Shane had and she was lucky that he didn't do any permanent damage. "I have to go see Sophia, tend to her needs, then talk to Rick. It has to be done."

He seemed to think about this for a minute, his hand didn't leave her neck the entire time. Then he just sat up, pushing himself onto his feet and seemed to stand there waiting for her.

She rose with him, he took his crossbow up from its place on top of her duffle bag and left the tent with her following close behind.

He was focused on something, but Laura didn't quite know what. She assumed it had something to do with what they were discussing, it must have, nothing really sets Daryl off more then people and talking.

However, even though he had a knack for getting angry or just agitated at people who said things he didn't either want to hear or didn't like in general, he had never gotten short tempered with her. Except for when they first met in the cube van and Daryl wasn't familiar with her, that was the only time he ever displayed that side of him, the one most people saw, to her.

After that, he'd never directed his anger or frustration at her again. They never spoke much when there wasn't much to say, but when he had something he wanted to say, he wasn't adverse to saying it. She knew he did fear rejection a certain amount, she didn't really know why aside from the usual when a person is interested in someone else and they work up the gall to tell that person. Daryl never seemed like the kind of man who would fear it though, she would either respond in kind or not.

Of course, she didn't know much about him, his life or his past, so she wasn't sure if there was something in it that actually created this reaction from him. To hate what he didn't approve of and showed something akin to being scared of something he _did_ like.

She smiled, they were heading in the direction of the camp, she knew that straight away. He had something in mind but she hadn't a clue what. He didn't say anything after leaving the tent and she was sure he was planning on doing something.

Laura half hoped that it was another confrontation with Shane, to show the ex-cop not to mess with her, but she knew that was foolish and would only make things worse. She hoped he knew that too and wasn't heading into camp to show up Shane. It would be flattering, she remembered seeing Shane when she brought Sophia to the house and it made her smile.

Daryl's fist found Shane's face at least twice before they were separated. She wanted to ask Rick what happened considering that later too, but that was more for self gratification then anything else.

When they neared camp, Laura could see the group already up and moving. Breakfast was being cooked and there were people scattered about.

Laura could see Rick on the porch alone again and she felt a little concerned about his welfare again, she knew he was doing better, at least in some areas of their survival as a group, but he was in deep thought again, she could see it.

It took a moment to realize they were heading straight to him though. She was just following Daryl because it looked like he wanted her too and so far he'd given no signs to the opposite.

At the porch, Rick looked to them and grinned at Laura who waved at him. "Morning." He greeted, leaning on the railing. "Mornin' Rick. How's things?"  
He shrugged and looked back over the camp. "No accidents, yet, so fine." She snickered at him, he was in a good mood this morning. "What can I do for you?"

Daryl jerked his head to Laura, "Keep an eye on her." He spoke sternly, almost demanding, but it was a request delivered his way, Rick picked up on that quickly. Laura was a little surprised at Daryl, he didn't seem to like anyone very much, and though she could tell Daryl didn't _not_ like Rick, they weren't exactly friends either.

Rick appeared just as surprised, but followed Daryl's eyes to Shane who was back at camp eating breakfast. Rick understood immediately and nodded to Daryl. "You have my word."

At that, Daryl gave Rick a _very_ testing look, but Rick remained still, he didn't avert his gaze or move away. It wasn't a tense moment, it was like the two men were having a heated discussion by doing nothing but _staring_ at each other. Laura was smiling, amused at Daryl's new behavior. He was trusting Rick to keep Shane away from her and, from what Laura understood about Daryl, anything he _liked_ was instantly important to him.

Laura was no exception to this and once Daryl was satisfied, he gave a single nod to Rick before turning and leaving the camp again to go hunting. She had patted his shoulder as he passed her, as an assurance, but she knew he'd still be worried. It's just how Daryl worked.

When he was finally far enough to be out of earshot, Rick smiled at her. "How're you, Laura?" She turned to see Rick above her on the porch. With a sigh and a chuckle, Laura climbed the few stairs up to Rick. "Just fine, thanks."

He gestured to her neck and jaw, "Are you... alright there. Those look bad." He was concerned about her to, of course he was, Rick was concerned about _everyone_ all the time.

She rubbed the back of her neck, "Sore, sensitive, but nothin' I can't handle. Had worse." He nodded solemnly, "I know, doesn't mean you shouldn't have it looked at."

Laura made a questioning look before scoffing at herself, Rick looked at her oddly. "Sorry, I never told y'all did I?" He shook his head, still confused. "I went to school to be a doctor, I wasn't one for long before all this, but I can take care of little things like this." She pointed to her neck and rolled her eyes.

"You were a doctor?" Rick queried. "Yeah, I wasn't a surgeon or anythin', but I know some things about medical needs, I used to work in an ER back in Atlanta for a few months."

"You didn't mention this before, why?" Rick's brow furrowed, he looked rather bothered by this news and Laura was a little taken back, "I just never thought nothin' of it. I mean, I wasn't exactly the best doctor in the world y'know? I just did what normal doctors do... Why're you so interested?"

He sighed, his hand running over his mouth and chin. "Doctor's are a valuable commodity now. Anyone with medical training is necessary, we need all the help we can get. I didn't mean to sound like I was prying, but it is important to know, that's all."

Laura grinned, "Makes sense, I just... People didn't exactly know me before an' I wasn't real keen on knowin' people. Bein' part of a group is good enough for me, but I suppose I should've mentioned it sooner." She bit her lip, Laura knew that people who know medical procedures were needed here, but she had just never said anything. She didn't know to trust these people or not and after she really got to know them, she'd forgotten to ever speak up about her job as a doctor.

"It's alright, I do see why you didn't say anything. No need to worry about it." Rick just put a hand on her shoulder, his universal sign of companionship. She liked it, it felt like he was really trying to convey his feelings on the matter, which were always comforting.

"I'm goin' inside to check on Sophia, after that, I kinda' got somethin' I wanna' talk to you about, is that alright?" Laura pointed her thumb to the house, Rick nodded again. "Absolutely, I'll be right here."

She flashed him a smile before heading into the farmhouse. She felt strange just walking into someone else's home like it was her own, it made her feel like an intruder.

So she quietly made her way inside, she knew the way to the room they were letting Sophia stay in. She headed up the stairs and to the furthest room on the left, through the hall and stairway decorated with pictures of their family and classic landscape inspired paintings scattered about evenly. It was the typical farm styled home and Laura loved it to tears.

When she made it to the room, she knocked on the door quietly. She heard someone move around inside before the door opened to reveal Carol who looked like she'd just woken up. "Good morning, Laura. Come in." She stepped back into the room, heading to a chair beside the bed Sophia was resting in.

Laura entered, closing the door deftly behind her, and approached the bed. Sophia was eating her own breakfast and Carol was having hers with Sophia. Laura seriously doubted Carol would ever stop looking at her daughter now and it made Laura glad to have them back together.

"I just came by to see how you were doin', Sophia." Laura sat on the edge of the bed, on the side where Carol was sitting.

Sophia gulped down a bite of her food. "I-I feel a l-l-little b-better. T-thank you." She spoke quietly, she was mindful of her own sensitivities. Laura gave her a big grin, patting the side of the bed.

"Well, is there anythin' botherin' you? Light, sound, hunger, anythin' you need at all?" Laura tried to urge Sophia to talk about whatever was causing her any discomfort, but from yesterday, Sophia looked much better and far more relaxed.

She shook her head slightly, "I'm o-okay now, L-Laura." Sophia stammered, just like Laura had done, but it was nowhere near as bad. Laura was able to see that her stuttering problem was more serious because she had been a walker for so long, around two months, so she had more decay on her body then Sophia ever did. Sophia would recover much faster then Laura, she'd only been a walker for a few days, the decay hadn't really even started yet.

This idea made Laura feel that much better about Sophia's suffering, she wouldn't actually have to go through the worst parts. In fact, from how Sophia was doing now Laura was sure she would move passed what was Laura's worst experience which had happened about a few hours after her revival. It was a great relief to see Sophia wouldn't go through it.

"M-momma s-s-said you s-s-saved m-me." Laura tilted her head a little, Sophia was speaking better then she had when she first awoke too. "T-thank y-you a-and I'm s-s-sorry I b-bit you."

Laura blinked and held her hands out a little, looking down at them. The bites were still clearly there, she hadn't tended to them. _I really should do that_. She mulled, but she didn't even remember them until Sophia said something. It wasn't that important to her, so she just shrugged it off.

"It's alright, don't worry about that." Laura patted Sophia's leg under the blankets. "Can you see now? Does it hurt?"

Sophia shook her head, "It h-hurts a l-little w-when I l-look a-at the s-s-sky f-for a w-while... D-doesn't h-hurt s-s-so much now t-though." Laura was glad to see Sophia getting over it so fast, it was progression that she didn't expect in such short time.

Again, she still knew so little about this _cure_ thing, she didn't know that Sophia would recover so much quicker then Laura and, with this being proven, what else was different? Would she not have to live with the same issues Laura did? Would she actually heal normally again?... Did she have a voice like Laura's telling her things?

She would talk with Sophia about that in private later on. Laura was _not_ going to divulge that tidbit of information to anyone until she was sure what the Voice really was and if she could or could not get rid of it.

"Alright, well, if you want to talk about anythin' at all, you just call me, alright? I know what it feels like an' I'm here for you." Sophia actually smiled at Laura and nodded a firm _yes_ to her question, but she didn't voice her response and went on eating her breakfast.

Laura stood up and made her way back to the door before being stopped by Carol who Laura remembered wasn't present when Laura explained what Sophia was going through. She would have to tell the details again, but she didn't mind.

Carol was concerned about her daughter of course and that worry showed on her face. "Is she going to be okay now?"

Laura glanced to Sophia who didn't even look like she noticed they were both in the room still. "She'll be fine, with how fast she's healin' up I'd say she'll be able to get movin' again very soon. Maybe even by the end of the day if she feels up to it."

Carol smiled thankfully to Laura, "I can't tell you what it means to me that you brought my daughter back, even after she... turned." It was difficult for Carol to say it, she could see the differences in Sophia's appearance, but they were all much, much more subtle then Laura's.

"You don't have to, Carol. I'm just happy that she's back an' this group gets some good news for once." Laura put a firm hand on Carol's upper arm, "Sophia bein' here means the world to all of us, I'm glad to have played a part in her return. Take care Carol."

With once final nod of goodbyes, Laura left the room as quietly as she could so as to not disturb the mother and daughter too much.

Leaving the room, Laura couldn't wipe the smile off her face. _She_ did _that_. _She_ gave Sophia back to her mother. Laura's utter excitement and joy couldn't be contained at this point, she was above and beyond the clouds now. Knowing she had a role in returning Sophia, alive and well, to her mother and the group made her ecstatic.

She nearly bounced down the stairs, if she could with her brace on, and once she hit the floor, she strutted out of the house happily to find Rick.

When she exited the house, Rick was sitting on one of the chairs on the front porch, just relaxing as he thought hard about whatever new issue he was thinking about. She grinned at him and went to take the chair beside his own, she crossed in front of him, stealing his attention from his thoughts as she hoped for.

Sitting in the chair, she leaned against the arm towards Rick. "So, I have a problem."

Instantly she noticed the change in Rick's comfortable demeanor around her to full blown concern. She felt like just holding onto his head and hammering words about how he really needed to take a step back, breathe in and out slowly, and _relax_.

"What's wrong?"

She put a hand up, to gesture that it wasn't so important that it warranted such a strong response. "After Andrea shot Daryl 'cause, let's face it, he did really look like a walker an' everyone knows... well, I look so much like a walker that I could just be walkin' around in broad daylight an' people mistake me for undead. I understand it an' all, but I just need to make sure that one day if'n I'm walkin' into camp that I don't get shot."

Rick's eyes went over to the camp, seeing Andrea back on top of the RV on lookout. He frowned a little and nodded to Laura. "I see... I'm not sure what to do about it. Daryl was injured and didn't realize that we thought he was a walker, if he did, I'm sure he would have spoke up sooner, just to make sure we didn't shoot him."

"See, that's what I thought an' even Daryl said it, but I've had speech issues in the past. When we first met I couldn't shout or even speak real loud no matter how hard I tried. My voice was so screwed up." She laughed at herself, she stuttered so bad she could barely get out a word without stumbling over her words. "And after Shane had grabbed me like that, Daryl can tell you, I sounded terrible. My voice so scratchy that I could barely utter a sound without coughin'."

She took note on how Rick glared in Shane's direction momentarily before looking back to Laura, his eyes flickered to her neck just for a split second. He was taking in information and trying to come up with a solution.

"I don't really know what to do about it... If we found something like a reflective vest, you'd end up leading walkers to us." Laura agreed with that, walkers didn't want her but they knew enough to follow light and sound just to see if there was food there. "We have a few flashlights, if you kept one on you at all times so if you were coming back into camp at night and risked being mistaken for a walker, you could just shine it at us."

Laura could see that working, at night, but she seriously doubted that she'd end up getting shot at daytime mainly because people _can_ recognize her. It was night that bothered her the most.

A lot of accidents happen at night.

"That could work, I guess I'm not too worked up about comin' around in the day. So long as everyone waits to confirm that whatever's comin' into camp is a walker before shootin'." Laura stifled a laugh, Daryl had gotten over the incident quickly. "Like last time."

Rick chuckled, "We wouldn't want a repeat of that. Take mine, I'll get another one from the RV later." He reached to his belt, pulling up a regular sized flashlight and handing it to Laura who accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks Rick, it was just somethin' that was on my mind." He seemed nonchalant about it, "Don't worry about it. I'm here when you need me."

"I suppose I'm gonna' have to find myself somethin' to do while I'm here. Sophia's alright for now, don't wanna' crowd her too much, noise an' movement tended to stress me out when I was in her position." Laura huffed with a wave of her hand, "Doesn't look like a lot's goin' on though..."

"Now we don't have to look for Sophia anymore... It really does feel slow around camp." That brought a very satisfied looking smile to Rick's face before he gave her a very unsteady gaze. "Laura, we've never talked about this, you've only mentioned what happened before... How did you get bitten?"

Laura stared at him for a moment, completely thrown by the sudden question. "I... Well, I got a call from a neighbor who I occasionally looked after their dogs for 'em 'cause they both worked long hours. So I went to their place to feed the two dogs they had. She told me that her husband, a guy named Reginald, was inside 'cause he was feelin' real sick so he couldn't do much." Rick could see where this was headed clearly.

"When I got there, I found both of the dogs barkin' at their bedroom door, I got a little worried about 'im. All that talk about animals havin' great senses an' things, like knowin' when somethin's goin' wrong. I knocked on the door an' heard weird sounds comin' from inside." She cringed a little, the sounds of the undead. "I opened the door, thinkin' he was in trouble or somethin', only to see Reginald was up an' about. I didn't know what was goin' on an' then he just... _charged_ me, I turned to run, but he grabbed me an' bit me. He bit me a few more times before I ran through the apartment."

Laura ran her hand to her bag leg, the one strapped into the brace. "They lived on the second story of an apartment complex, same one I lived in of course. I couldn't get out because I had ran into their little office room and closed the door. My neck was hurtin' somethin' awful an' he wasn't lettin' up. So I went to the window an' tried to get down easily, but I guess some walkers know how to open doors because he got in. I jumped for it an' broke my leg, I hit the concrete down below real hard." Her hand went up to her neck where the bite was, the bruise near it made her wince, but the bite itself only had phantom pains whenever she thought about how she'd gotten it.

"I didn't think I needed to go to the hospital for it, it was just... weird. Someone bit me y'know, it was before all this... So I thought I was about to be killed or somethin' else bad. I couldn't go back in the apartment complex, I thought he would come after me." Laura rolled her eyes at this, walkers held no vindictive behavior towards a singular person, but no one knew about walkers back then.

Laura rationalized her actions, twenty-twenty hind sight. "I went to the only place I knew, I didn't have friends or anythin', so I ran all the way to my fathers home. I hate him, I hated him back then too, but I was scared an' needed someone. I figured the moment I got there that I should've just gone to the police immediately, but knowing what I know now... if I had. I would be dead. As a result, my father took me in, actin' like he cared an' shit. I knew it was abnormal, but I was scared, didn't know what else to do. After a few hours, I got real sick an' he started takin' care of me. Then it got bad, really bad... Hurt all the time, everythin' felt like my bones were bein' shattered at the slightest movement. It didn't take long, but it felt like days to me, an' I finally... died. I turned."

"I'm sorry that happened to you, from what I've seen with Jim... I can't imagine it." Rick sympathized and Laura was thankful for his comfort as she retold her story, it didn't change her memory or fix anything, but it made her feel just that much better. "You said you remember being a... walker. What was it like? Were you able to hear people? React? Any kind of responses to your surroundings?"

She shook her head, "While I do remember it now, when I was a walker... There was just too much happenin'. I was always in pain, it always hurt, but when I was a walker I was not aware of anythin'. I didn't feel nor think anythin' at all." She knocked her head with her knuckles lightly, "I see it now, like old memories bein' played back slowly. I know now that as a walker, I didn't _know_ anythin' at all, but now... I can see it, feel it, an' it was nothin' but constant torture. My body was dead, everythin' about me was dead, but I kept movin' somehow. I wanted food so bad, I always wanted to eat, it hurt so much not to eat that I couldn't do nothin' but try to eat. I never actually ate anyone, but I never stopped tryin'."

This information was running through Rick's head, Laura didn't know what he thought of it, yet she could see he was taking his time with it, just picking out bits and pieces, making sense of it all.

Laura didn't know if any living person could make sense of her turning into a walker then coming back aside from, _maybe_ , her father. Wherever he may be and Laura wished everyday that she never found him, that he'd never find her, and she wouldn't have to face him again. He saved her life, she acknowledged that and she wasn't a vengeful person, she'd never do to any other living being what he did to her.

But sometimes, with the Voice in the back of her head, she wanted to do it to him, make him suffer by experiencing her toils. The same part of her made her feel like if she couldn't do it herself, that she'd take satisfaction and closure in her life only by knowing he was forced through the same torture she went through.

That it was the only way she'd ever die happily, to know he had the same scars. No more, no less, the exact same thing she suffered the exact same way. No overdoing it or exaggeration, but perfect equality.

It wasn't something Laura found herself agreeing with very often and in such short bursts of hate and rage, she wished nothing else but to find him in her shoes.

Unpleasant thoughts of torture, pain, and death. Violent and gory, Laura shook her head quickly, she didn't want to think those thoughts anymore.

"Do you think Sophia will have it the same way? I don't mean to sound like I'm not considering your difficulties, I would never think to lessen them." Rick had a very hard expression to read. "She's just so _young_ , she doesn't have the fortitude to deal with that kind of trauma like you, an adult woman. Sophia... I don't know how a child can handle it."

Laura reached out to put her hand over Rick's, which was on the end of his chair's armrest. "She was a walker for such a short amount of time. I went up to see how she was doin' just a bit ago, as you know, an' she's recoverin' so much faster then I did. I was a walker for about two months, the damage done to me wasn't as extensive as most walkers. However, Sophia was a walker for a few days at best an' has no injuries, nothin' but that bite wound to heal from."

"So you think she'll get better soon? Or, at least, faster then you did?"

"Much faster. Less the half the time it took for me." Laura assured, patting his hand before putting hers back on her armrest. "No need to worry about Sophia so much anymore with walkers too. If I'm any indication of what she's got goin' for her now, walkers won't be a problem with her no more."

Rick grinned to that, "That's actually a relief. It sounds strange to say this, but I'm glad that she doesn't have to worry about walkers anymore and that we don't have to fear what happens if she gets caught by walkers either."

"It's not strange, it's understandable. When I explained to Andrea about what life during the outbreak was like for me... That I can't relate to you guys 'cause I never experienced the outbreak like y'all, I never had to worry about hidin' away or nothin'. So I live with walkers like the world hadn't come to a screechin' halt. She said she was a little jealous of that."

He nodded his head, a big grin still on his face as he looked back over the camp. "I can see that. It would make things easier for everyone if walkers were not a threat anymore."

"Yeah, but actually gettin' to that point, the turnin' an' comin' back... It ain't fun an' it don't return you all human." Laura was a little concerned about the idea of what if everyone in camp was turned and revived like she and Sophia were, the option was there of course. She didn't even know if Rick would think of it, but it was a crazy idea to her. To willingly turn just so they could be a cross between walkers and humans, on the in between field so that only one of those parties would actually do them any harm. Laura was playfully warning him.

"I know that." Rick had a look on his face that told Laura he knew what she was saying and agreed without voicing it, but he was going through the pros and cons. That much could be discerned from his look. He always had a face that could display all his thoughts, it was clear as day. "Sometimes I wonder what life must be like for you. The world hasn't changed much I guess, to you that is."

"Of course, you're not counting the attempted murder, assault, battery, rape, and whatever they put scientists away for when they fuck things up. No law, I don't benefit from that either, y'know." Laura listed, she had a few more, but that covered the majority of it and she wasn't too familiar with all the terms for criminal offences.

Rick frowned slightly, "Of course." He repeated sternly, "Attempted murder?"

Laura smiled, "Oh yeah, I never told you about the group I met before y'all." She huffed in amusement, "I told Daryl, but I never said nothin' to you, just 'cause I didn't think about it. I found a group before I found y'all, there were seven of 'em an' they were all real nice people, just like this group, but one day I got outed an' they all thought I was turnin'. So the leader of the group, Red, an' the big guy who was kinda' like the guard of the group, Braddock, took me away to, basically, kill me 'cause I look like a walker. Got away, obviously. So I'd think that would go under attempted murder."

Again, Rick fell into a deep thought, like he was trying to figure out what Laura was saying, not actually having another one of his moral struggles in his head again. He was silent for a bit, before he apparently dismissed it altogether.

"Well, you're with us now and we won't do that. You're part of the group now, while we may not understand how it works, this cure that made you like this, but the way I see it, it doesn't matter. You're with us and I want you here, you seem like a good person to me." Rick rose to his feet, "I think we've chatted enough, there may not be a lot to do around camp, but there are a few things here or there. Daryl trusted me to keep you safe and I'm going to do just that, would you mind tagging along with me?"

Laura chuckled and stood from the chair, "Or fear his wrath? I think I'll make it easier on both of us an' just follow you around 'til he gets back from huntin'."

"That's probably a good idea." He nudged her along, leading the way off the porch.

Laura figured she'd be following Rick around for quite some time before Daryl got back. She didn't particularly like the idea of him being so overprotective, but it did make her feel happy knowing he cared enough about her to actually go through the trouble of talking to people he'd rather avoid just to make sure she was safe.

Actually, she was sure he would still worry about her even though he left her with Rick, who would do just about anything to keep her out of danger like he would the rest of the group.

So she stayed with Rick and helped him out when she could, helped out the people he went to help himself, and spent the morning and part of the afternoon traveling through the camp and the fields with him.

She very much enjoyed her time with Rick, he was a good friend of hers and she appreciated his efforts to bring her closer to the group. It was a very slow day, but she didn't mind it so much. She just went along for the ride and soaked in the sun and breeze, spending time with those who joined them every now and then like T-Dog, Glenn, Andrea, Lori who still seemed apprehensive to Laura, Dale, and even Maggie and Hershel.

As far as her last few months go, she considered this possibly the best day she had in a long while. It was quiet, peaceful, no accidents or violence. Just a little work here or there, checking in on people, and lending a hand when they could.

It was a good day, but she found herself anxious for Daryl's return. She knew why to, she wanted to spend time around him, but feared being around him _too_ much and make him feel like she was suffocating him.

She'd give him his space and time alone, which was the real reason she didn't insist on going with him to hunt. She knew that was _his_ and didn't want to push her bounds. She would go hunting with him in the future, that much was certain, but they spent a good deal of time together lately and she wanted him to take a break, breathe, and just have his privacy. _  
_

Daryl was a very private person, his opinions were always out in the open, but when it came to his decisions, how he reached them, and his _feelings_ on something... That was never clear, he always kept that close to his chest and Laura didn't hold that against him. She even found his secrecy rather charming really, it was just another part of him as much as his hands or his southern drawl.

No complaints, a day at Rick's side and he included her in whatever he was doing, she felt something akin to a right hand man. She knew that was actually Shane, but it didn't make her feel any less important.

Her opinions on subjects held weight with Rick, he thought of her as honest and she was always to the best of her ability. She said what she meant in the best possibly way she could. Rick always seemed to take her word to heart.

That, combined with his position as leader of the group, made Laurafeel like an important and effective member of the group.

She wanted it to be like this for however long she had with this group, to walk and talk with Rick, help make decisions that matter, help people whenever they needed it, and when all is said and done, spend the rest of that time with who she cared about most.

All in all, Laura began to grow that much closer to the group, all of them treating her like family. She really saw what she meant to the group now, how they acted with her around, comfortable, relaxed, completely at ease. They didn't tense at her approach, shun her, ignore her, or speak down to her.

They all did what she wanted from the start, they cared about her, each one she spoke to that day showed concern over the _treatment_ Shane had given her. She was a little embarrassed to say that she greatly enjoyed the attention.

It was new and refreshing.

She really thought that after so long of making bad decisions, wrong turns, and discovering things for the worst, that she finally found a place to belong.


	29. Who Are You

In the afternoon, Laura and Rick had finished most of the check ups on the group. It had been a long day so far, they helped around the farm for Maggie and Hershel, they gave T-Dog some help when bringing back a lot of water back to camp, Laura checked up again on Sophia with Rick, they also stopped in to see that Randall had woken up for a little bit, but he quickly passed out again.

Laura didn't pay much attention to Randall when they stopped by, he was still recovering from blood loss and his injury was apparently rather bad. She didn't know anything about it and trusted Rick to know what to do, but she would offer whatever help she could when he had to deal with Randall. It wasn't easy deciding someones fate, especially in this world.

When the day reached its slowest point, Laura saw Daryl off in the distance. She smiled widely, "Rick, Daryl's back, I'm gonna' run off. I had a good day today, I'll talk to you later." Rick nodded to her and she went straight for Daryl, happy to see him back from the woods and appeared to be fine.

He turned around and lead her away from the camp, he didn't say anything or really acknowledge her existence, but she wasn't bothered in the slightest. She knew fine well Daryl wasn't into openly displaying their relationship, he preferred to find a place to be alone and show _her_ in full detail. Which wasn't too bad, considering she figured Daryl hadn't had many relationships in his past, simply because of how he seemed and with someone like Merle around? She couldn't see many women approaching him with serious intentions rather then a one night stand at best.

So she followed him with a grin on her face, just enjoying the scenery as they stalked through the tall grass back to his tent, now also her tent, but she loved calling it _his_ and still having the privilege of coming and going as she pleased.

Looking at how they were together now, she wasn't sure what he thought of them, him, her, being around each other with more intentions then a one night stand. She'd never gotten anything out him other then he liked her and that he considered her his woman, which she felt like she was floating when he said it or spoke of it. She wondered where they were really heading, if there would be any progress in the future with them.

Would they be at this stalemate continually or will one of them have to make a bold move?

Laura sighed inwardly, with her mental state in disarray, she couldn't exactly _bed_ him and say that was the right move. Even if she could, she wouldn't. She didn't want to be perceived as being easy and, at the same time, she realized she was about ready to do that exact thing the day before.

 _Thank God I'm fucked in the head._ She smiled nervously, she would've regretted sleeping with him so early on. They _just_ started all this and while she was anxious to get over this metal bump from her past, she still didn't want the first time he made a move to be instantly rewarded with getting laid.

 _The hell am I worrying about this now? There are walkers all around the place and I'm losing my head about sleeping with someone?_ She gave Daryl's back a very lame and bored look. She had to look out for him, guard him, she didn't sleep so nights were automatically safer for him. Walkers never bothered her so her safety with staying up or just living in this undead apocalypse was a good deal easier for him.

She wasn't so lucky. Walkers searched restlessly for people like this group, for him, they were always hungry and she knew what that hunger felt like. It would drive any person mad if they had to live with it. Daryl was in constant danger, his life was being risked just by walking from his tent to the farmhouse.

 _Hell_ , his life was in danger just by being _in_ a damn tent rather then something solid and well protected.

Laura's mouth twisted in thought, she had taken it on herself to guard him from the walkers, even if he didn't want her to, she was still going to do it. She cared about him and if he ever died, permanently died... She shuddered at the thought. Like when he fell down the ridge for that second time, she thought he died right then and there or, at least, was _dying_.

Technically he was and nearly did. A few times counting the two walkers that she proved herself to be absolutely _no help whatsoever_ with. She growled at herself, she nearly tore apart her leg to get down there to help him and all she did was get hurt worse and he ended up helping her.

The opposite of her plan.

She worried about the combination of walkers and the group, all of them, constantly. It was fear but never for her anymore, she may not have a death wish, but she knew the only person that would hurt her here was Shane. They had so much more to worry about, their survival was a continuous epic struggle that broke Laura's heart just to watch and know that she couldn't stop it.

She may never have _liked_ people before the world ended, never sought out social interaction unless she was buying something or it was a passing talk, but she didn't want them to _die_ and definitely not so mercilessly. Their fight for survival is one she could never know, not in her state, but she wasn't going to ignore it just because she didn't share it.

Her thoughts were brought to everyone, T-Dog cut his arm up bad when the herd passed them on the highway, he nearly died as a consequence of the walkers appearance. Glenn and Shane were away from the group a little ways, they didn't see the herd until it was very, very close to them and almost got caught. Rick was separated from Lori, which told her that they didn't have time to get to each other they were in such a rush.

She knew Andrea had some kind of issue in the RV, but she never asked what it was or how her near death experience was. Laura bit her lip, _I should probably talk to her about that later._ She wanted to show her consideration with her friends, make them understand she thought of them more then just a group to combat her loneliness.

As they reached their tent, she began tending to what he had brought back. She chose to do it alone, she wanted the practice and insisted that he hunted and she would do everything to make them edible.

So long as he didn't eat another raw squirrel. Laura smirked, she really didn't know why he did it, but he did and she found his survival skills beyond anything she could understand. She wasn't going to question it, he did what he did.

It was a relatively quiet day after talking with Rick, Daryl seemed content with her just being around and farther from Shane. There wasn't much she wanted to speak about, after her little bit of work that morning, she was happy to just lean back and soak in the sun.

They spent the rest of the day together, never sharing more then a few words to each other, but Laura was happy to be with him. She could keep an eye on him, make sure nothing happened.

With her around he would be in far less danger of walkers, he could handle a few at a time, but in the rare event that a small group passed by or a herd like the ones she spend her time with came by... She could get him out of there faster then anyone else.

There was never a time when he was away from her that he was safer without her and she knew it, the walkers wanted _him_ and sometimes, to her, it felt direct. They wanted _him_ and she wasn't going to let them have him.

When night came by and Daryl went to sleep, Laura was awake and aware, as usual.

Instead of staying in the bed, Laura's concern about a walker getting too close or too many appearing before she could actually do any good got the better of her. So she was careful enough to slink away from Daryl and take a seat, cross legged, just outside the tent flap.

She would sit there the rest of the night, eyes wide open and watching for walkers. She'd not let a single one get near the tent, near him, she functioned as a watchdog, but she couldn't do any good if she spent her time unable to see what was going on around them.

She had taken one of her blankets from her duffle to ward off the cold and just sat there, scanning around them, at times walking around the tent quietly to check for walkers, just in case they came through the woods and caught his scent.

Laura noticed he was so distinct to her, they all were really, like they were sweeter then herself or walkers who, of course, smelled like rotting roadkill. Which some of them actually were.

She also noticed that she stilled didn't know Daryl very well. This knowledge made her rather perturbed, she had spoken openly about her troubles and rarely ever showed any kind of reservation. She knew Daryl had a harder life then her, he must've, it was little putting together a puzzle.

Daryl's brother, Merle, was quite volatile and she wondered if this rough treatment extended the brotherly bond. She was certain that it did, at least to some degree. She knew, it was so _obvious_ , that Daryl had some form of neglect or abuse in his younger years, either from his parents or his brother, she didn't know. It was all blurry to her, the possibilities were endless.

This kind of treatment, or lack thereof, made Daryl reluctant to really start any physical contact. Small things were generally _fine_ to him, but when she rubbed his back in the woods, wrapped her arms around him and held him close, when she held his face in her hands, he always showed such a strong reaction. People don't usually flinch so much when touched.

She knew when she first came in contact with the group, when they touched her, she would jump, sometimes yelp, and flinch too. However, her worst lasting problem left over from her childhood was simply _fear_ of people, never knowing what they'd do or how they'd react to things. She had the constant concern that she'd cross a line that Daryl had put up and end up either ruining things with him or getting smacked.

 _Like that'd happen._ She rolled her eyes and scoffed. He just wasn't that kind of person and she knew that, it was ingrained in her head, that was her understanding of Daryl. She could touch him, have quite passionate make out sessions with him, display her affection in private, she was sure he'd actually _let_ her show affection in public, but he doesn't like it, it's just not something he wanted to do out in the open.

She could understand that, she wasn't against showing her affection or his being shown to her in public. In fact she would happily encourage it if he ever chose to do that, but she very seriously doubted he ever would.

So that wasn't something she could do to show that she cared. He knew she did and if he didn't, she'd correct that quickly.

She cared so much that every minute of her days were spent worrying about him and walkers. She had no hate or love for walkers, they were never her enemy, aside from when she was bit, but she didn't know what that meant back then. No one did so to her it was like Reginald wasn't actually a walker. It made the whole thing that more surreal.

Knowing these people feared for their lives every second of every day, just hoping that they make it through another night without being bitten or eaten. She couldn't stand it, the thought of the struggle and pain, the absolute _terror_ they must feel in their every waking moment down to their restless nights.

It was torture of a different kind. To rob people of their security, but all Laura could think is that it they now know what it's like to be the squirrel's Daryl hunts. The exact same situation for prey animals, only it's humans who have been the dominant specie for since humanity started. They were always in power, everything around them was a sign of that power.

And now it was gone, they were forced to live as _prey._ The undead were the dominant now, they held the power. It's like the criminally insane and violent people were the majority and normal everyday people had to live under them, these damaged people were the undead now and normal people, humans, were forced to hide away as best they could.

Most just die one way or another, willingly or not. Laura's mind imaged the group, or specific members, facing the kind of death the walkers made them fear. Being torn apart and eaten alive by other _humanoid_ creatures? Things that _look_ likethem. It only increased the fear of these creatures, knowing that they were once just _people_ like them and they had the same chances of becoming the same _thing_ they were.

_**Snap!** _

Laura froze, her thoughts fell silent as she looked back into the woods. She stared through the trees, she knew where the sound came from, over her right shoulder and it wasn't far.

After a minute of doing nothing but standing still and staring, a walker came into view.

Laura didn't have anything on her, if it came this way she'd have to go through the trouble of waking Daryl up to deal with it. She needed a way to kill it, lessen the chance of it coming to the tent now or later on. Sometimes walkers could ignore loud noises when they thought nothing came of it, but other times they could catch up on the quietest sounds and end up coming straight back.

She backed up slowly, it saw her but didn't think anything of her, as usual.

Heading back to the tent, she could see Daryl was still fast asleep and the crossbow was on top of her duffle on the far side of the tent. She sighed quietly and snuck through the tent, stepping at silently as she could and plucked the crossbow from the duffle and hurried back out as fast as she came in.

Taking up one of the arrows, she loaded it as mutely as possible, but it made the usual loud snap as it was ready to shoot.

She went back to see the walker heading in no real direction to or from the tent, just barely angled towards the fields, it would wander out there and if the others don't see it, it could see them first.

So she took up aim and had her finger on the trigger when she heard something behind her. It would've startled her if she wasn't so focused on dealing with the walker a little more then ten feet in front of her now and coming a bit closer with each step.

She knew it was footsteps, the rustling in the tent, and the sensibility of the steps were human, not walker. It was Daryl, he either noticed she was gone or heard her, whichever it was, he had gotten up to investigate and right when he exited the tent, he spotted her and approached.

"What're you doin' up?" He wasn't talking about sleep, he knew she didn't, but he did expect to see her with him in the tent. It didn't take a genius to know that she preferred just staying with him more then doing anything else.

"Shhh." She hissed, still aiming out towards the walker. His appearance made her pause though, the walker could see them, it was looking directly at them and made a low groan. Daryl heard it and froze in place, but he couldn't see through the dark, it was pitch black and there wasn't a possible way for him to get a good enough eye on the walker.

Laura waited a moment, just a second, and realized what was happening.

She lowered the crossbow and came up to stand just barely in front of Daryl, between him and the walker. "There's a walker ahead of us." She was looking at him, but he shot her a very sarcastic look. He knew there was a walker, he could hear it and just barely pick out it's silhouette from the lightly illuminated woods behind it.

At this point, he could shoot it, he could easily see enough of it to find out where to shoot, but Laura held back, her hands still firmly on the crossbow as the walker drew near. Just in case she was wrong about this.

As the walker approached them with a telltale limp, Daryl nudged her as if telling her to shoot. She refused, she wanted to know.

When she went into the streets with Glenn, they hadn't come after her like normal and most ignored Glenn completely because of the coat of walker blood and guts until it rained and washed them clean and they found Glenn out rather quickly after that.

But could she wanted to know if it could work, if her presence with a human would actually deter a walker. She wondered that before, back in Atlanta and was even asked about it, but she never attempted it and couldn't provide a sure answer. If it was true, if she could do it, then it was only one _more_ thing she could do for the group.

Especially when scouting, she hadn't done it for them yet, but she knew the day would come that they would need her to make a run for supplies because they wouldn't have to worry about risking their own. However, if she proved herself as a walker deterrent then there could be so many more possibilities added to future scouting trips.

Daryl got tense, she could hear his hands moving for something on his person. She figured it be his hunting knife, she never saw him without it. She wanted to know, she had to and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

"Just wait." She raised her arm, putting her hand up to where the back of her hand was on his chest. "Watch." She pointed to the walker slowly as it came near to them.

It slowed down for a moment as it came within reach of them both, Daryl was tense and probably wondering what the hell she was doing. She would explain it later, but for now... her experiment could be beneficial to the group. Daryl wasn't in any real danger here, she had that crossbow ready to fire and he had his hunting knife in his hands, they were far from defenseless.

The walker leaned in close, sniffing and growling, Daryl's hand raised just a few inches, but the walker didn't care in the slightest. It was smelling and searching...

Then it just turned away and started shuffling away. Laura smiled, it worked, her presence actually hid Daryl's, a human, enough to make walkers think that he was a walker too and leave.

 _It actually worked!_ Laura felt like jumping, but Daryl was disturbed. "What was that?"

The walker faced them again and hissed, starting to shuffle back to them. Laura raised the crossbow and fired an arrow straight into it's forehead and the walker fell flat.

"That... was amazing." She walked up to it and yanked the arrow out. "When we were stuck in Atlanta on that roof, Rick had an idea to cover themselves, Rick and Glenn that is, in walker gore to hide the smell." She turned back to him to see him watching intently. "I offered to walk through the horde in the streets of course, but Glenn had to come with me. So they stuck him in a giant coat and oversized gloves to put all that walker gore on in order to hide his smell and he walked like a walker, they thought him to be a walker."

"You bein' around..." Daryl's eyes narrowed in thought, "It didn't even look at me."

"It did not, indeed." She was grinning, thrilled her experiment worked. "I was near, it knew me as _not_ dinner and I must've masked you, so it just moved on like it was nothin'. I don't know why, I don't think I smell _that_ bad, but, then again, I haven't taken a shower in a long while. Whatever the reason, the walker just didn't think you were food. So it was leavin'... Until you said somethin' an' walkers ain't that dumb."

This was actually interesting news to the both of them and he would've said more on it, but he just grumbled tiredly and went back to the tent. She smirked, he was tired and that was normal. _Bet he didn't expect to wake up to a walker_. Laura was excited that it worked, she didn't know many places that it would come in handy and she didn't know if she could do this with just one person or more.

"Get in here." She heard come from the tent, Daryl was back on his cot and waiting for her.

 _Thoughts for later._ She had an eventful night and was content to lay back down with him. She was still worried about other walkers and the like, but they hadn't made much noise so it was unlikely more walkers would show up just because they saw _one_. There were more stragglers in the country side then the city, so it wouldn't surprise Laura if this one wasn't just walking around aimlessly in the woods for months now.

Laura slinked back onto the cot, happy at this new revelation.

Before she realized that she felt like a teddy bear. She was awake all night and Daryl insisted she remain with him and if she'd not, he's worried about her. At night, like now, his arm around her, pressing her to his good side. She could swear she's a kind of walker teddy.

The idea made her grin. Through the night she listened for any more walkers, but felt so much better knowing that so long as she's with him, near him at least, that walkers would overlook him because of her.

It was comforting, she felt less threatened by them and it allowed her to ease into the cot with him much more relaxed then she had done the last time.

* * *

Morning came around too fast for Laura, who was so content just laying beside Daryl and watching his chest rise and fall with every breath.

She remembered telling Rick about her being a doctor and how he was very interested in that, being it is actually important information and he did need to know it, though she had never thought about it much beforehand. This news about being around, from what she knows so far, one person will make a calm walker pass them by like they would normally do to her.

She should relay this to Rick when she could, tell him the little she knew about it and see if he had any ideas as to how it could help them. She knew it would make her valuable to be sent out either alone or with someone to scavenge or scout out, those trips would be so much safer.

Laura was so relived to be seeing that her and Rick were growing closer as friends, she did enjoy Rick's company greatly. He listened to her, talked to her as an equal and trusted her, all things she never really experienced before. He was a good man and she would hate to think about never meeting him, never breaking the ice with him to forward their friendship.

Rick made Laura feel like her opinions and needs mattered to him and to the group. So she valued him above others, a little bit of favoriting, but she saw no harm in it. She knew so little about her friends, the most she knew of any of them was Rick and everyone knew about Rick. However, the others in the group she hadn't spoken to much and wasn't _that_ kind of a friend to them, they wouldn't talk about their pasts like she would.

Laura had been mostly open about her past, mostly. Hesitant and a little worried understandably so though. Eventually she told those that asked, Andrea, Rick and Daryl being the only ones who had.

While Laura mused on the idea of who she knew and who she didn't, Daryl began to wake up and she couldn't wait to get up. She had to talk to Rick about being able to hide people from walkers when she was near enough. She didn't know many details, but it was something new.

When he felt it time to get up and start the day, Laura immediately got up with him. She left the tent and looked over to the walker corpse, they needed to move it.

Laura went over to it and hooked her arms underneath the corpses' and lifted it as much as she could, which wasn't very high unfortunately, but it allowed her to begin dragging it away deeper into the woods. After a bit of pulling, she was satisfied with the distance for now and went back to the small camp Daryl had set up.

She saw him with a bottle of water in his hands, she assumed he was planning on breakfast before doing something that related to hunting. Again.

"Mornin'." She came up beside him, her hand on his back deftly. "I'm gonna' stop in with Rick again this mornin', tell him about last night. Maybe see if some good can come of it."

"You're spendin' a lotta' time with the cop." He stated, almost curiously.

She shrugged, "I like Rick, we've become somethin' of friends in the time that I've known him. So I spend time with him, he needs someone to tell him that they trust him. He's got the entire group ridin' on his back an' in this world that's a hell of a lot to carry. I wanna' help him where I can an' supportin' him I figure is the best way to do it."

"Really think he's listenin' to you?" It was disbelief, almost a snap. Laura knew Daryl didn't really _like_ anyone at camp, but he did stay with them for survival and still stuck his neck out for them. Like on the road with T-Dog, she knew what happened, Daryl _saved_ T-Dog, the one he also blamed for Merle being left cuffed to a roof in Atlanta. The other being Rick of course.

"Absolutely, he's the only one around here that makes me feel like I matter much." She smiled to her thoughts, only barely catching sight of Daryl's narrowed eyes and tightly set jaw. "I mean it in a different way, like that I have an opinion an' that it carries some measure of weight to it, somethin' I ain't used to."

Daryl looked at her in the corner of his eye, not turning to face her. "What do you mean _in a different way_?"

She smirked, "I matter to you, you may not say nothin', but you carefor me just like I care about you. Rick cares too, we are friends on some level at least. The difference between how I matter to Rick an' how I matter to you, is that I _think_ about you, care for you in a much closer way then _friends_. Rick, on the other hand, gives me a sense of place. That in this world, with these people, I belong an' I am valued."

He scoffed, "Valued right here, ain't gotta' go to Rick to _belong_." Laura beamed at him, that was his way of saying he cared and that he wanted her here, without actually saying it, because, as Laura's come to know, Daryl wasn't the kind of man to blurt out his feelings on _anything_ just because he does have a heart.

He dealt with himself fine and if he cared about someone else, like Laura knows he cares for her, then he keeps them close and watches out for them. For her. It definitely made her feel like she belonged.

"I know, just... In an important fashion, in a way that I can help others." She patted the flashlight she still had on her hip. "I talked to Rick about my little dilemma an' I gotta' good problem solver. Rick gave me his flashlight, when I'm comin' up to camp at night an' worried I might get shot 'cause I look like a walker, just flash it an' people know."

Daryl partially turned to see her now, his eyes roamed over her face and body, she felt almost like he was looking for something. He didn't say anything, just ran his eyes over her. "You don't look like a walker."

She laughed, "I look like hell an' I know it, don't try an' tell me otherwise. Nice of you to say though, but I do look like a walker, ain't pleasant to look at, but I ain't gotta' way to change it."

Daryl's mouth twitched in a frown, whatever bothered him he left it alone for now. "Goin' to camp, be ready."

Laura glanced over herself, "I think I'm good to go." His eyes flicked to her before he put the crossbow's belt across his chest and nodded her along. She walked with him fine, not a care in the world.

The morning even started off hot and Laura loved how it warmed her skin up, she always felt so chilly, but she never noticed until she was next to something warm or spent her time in the heat of the Georgia sun. It felt magnificent and for a little while, she just bathed in the sunlight and enjoyed walking with the only man who ever showed her companionship.

 _Ha, Daryl and companionship._ Laura snickered at herself, he wasn't exactly the _companion_ or _partner_ type. He was a traditional man while remaining radically different then anyone she'd ever met, traditional was only _one_ way to describe how he acted towards her. He was tough, considerate, and surprised her at almost every turn.

She very much enjoyed guessing which part he'd take each day now. He'd vary from being distant for one reason or another, then he'd very literally be _on_ her showing her that he did care, even if he had trouble displaying it at times.

Nearing the camp, she noticed that it was brighter this morning, they had gotten up later. Possibly because of the walker last night.

She was actually extremely excited by this news, it could mean she would be used to makes run into town now, her usefulness was beginning to show itself in ways she never expected.

As Daryl stalked into camp, ignoring everyone but Laura's target audience, which was actually leaning against a tree just beside his tent. Lori and Carl nearby him, having their breakfasts.

"Mornin' Rick." He nodded to her, busy chewing his breakfast to greet her vocally. "I got some new for you. I think you're gonna' like it actually." Daryl stayed behind her, just a little ways enough to keep his eye on her and be out of the way of the camp, to not attract any attention to himself.

He swallowed, "What've you got for me this morning?" He grinned at her, remembering their conversation from the previous morning.

"A walker came to our tent last night." She just _said_ it without actually anticipating the reaction. Rick paused right before he was about to take a bite of his eggs, Lori heard it too and had to take a moment before stepping forward to Laura, "What happened, are y'all alright?"

Laura nodded, "Just fine. I went out to kill it, but the noise woke Daryl up an' he came out too, but I decided to test somethin' I remember from Atlanta. Seein' if, like when we coated Glenn in walker gore to mask him from the walkers, that me bein' around could do the same thing."

Lori glanced down to the plastic plate with eggs on it, she didn't really look like eating anymore. "Well, turns out it worked. Kinda'. The walker saw us both, Daryl was standin' right behind me, but it didn't seem to notice him an' went about it's business. It was only when Daryl said somethin' that the walker caught on, so I put it down."

Rick's eyes fell on Daryl, who nodded in confirmation. He was processing more new information, Laura grinned, he was having to deal with a lot from Laura lately. "That could come in hand, I can see how it would be useful." He commented, completely ignoring his breakfast now. "You could help Glenn with his runs into town... Could also help when I take Randall out after he's able to walk again."

"You know all you gotta' do is ask, I'm here when you need me. Just thought that I should say somethin' this time." The two chuckled at that, in this world _yesterday_ seems like a long time ago. Especially when struggling for your life everyday.

"I might take you up on that offer. Until then, Glenn is making a run into town again later today." He gestured to Glenn, who was sitting next to T-Dog having his breakfast. "If you're free today, talk to Glenn."

Rick had long gotten over Laura bringing him surprising news, he just felt it saved time if he _didn't_ expect her to reach her limits. Just to wait and see what new thing she found.

He was no longer hesitant towards the many strange things she would tell him about, that would only serve to make things more difficult. So he went along with it, but he wouldn't risk her any actual harm.

"Sure, 'bye Rick. Lori." She gave a little wave to both the Grimes before returning to Daryl who was giving her a steady glare, it wasn't in anger, but Laura wasn't sure what else it could be about.

They were about to head back to the tent, Laura would get ready for the run into town and she didn't know what Daryl had on his _to do_ list. Both of them paused when they heard a little voice call out. "M-Miss Laura!"

She looked around camp for a moment, but she did recognize the voice. It was the youngest and sweetest in camp. When Laura spotted the source, she smiled at her.

Sophia was walking from the farmhouse to the camp, but once the little girl saw Laura she ran straight up to her. Laura kneeled down, her arms out wide and Sophia ran into them, throwing her arms around Laura's neck and holding onto her tightly. Laura's own arms enveloped the small girl, hugging her gently to her.

"Good mornin' Sophia." She chuckled, the little girl was clinging to her. Laura could feel one of her hands had her doll, the worn plushie that nearly killed Daryl and her.

She let Sophia go to see the girl smiling nervously. "I'm feeling m-much better now Miss L-Laura." She released Laura and held her doll in her arms lovingly. "I r-really missed my m-momma. Y-you were in that d-dark place with m-me though, I f-felt so happy with y-you."

Laura grinned a little confused, "You mean in the barn?" She nodded quickly, "Well, I'm glad I could be there for you. I see you got your dolly back."

Sophia smiled brightly and searched around, before her eyes fell on Daryl and she left Laura to stand shyly in front of him. "T-thank you for s-saving d-dolly, I really m-missed her too." She was so nervous, but despite that she jumped forward and hugged Daryl's waist. He made no movement to hug her back or reject her. After a minute he reached down and patted her right shoulder, mindful of the bite wound on the opposite side.

"Ain't nothin' girl." He grumbled. He had a very slight grin, he didn't do anything else and Sophia released him, smiling at him again before going back to Carol who stood just a few feet in front of them.

"It wasn't nothing, you all worked so hard to find my little girl and I can't thank you enough." Carol had tears in the corner of her eyes, just seeing her daughter up and walking again made her so happy she was on the verge of crying out in joy. "I lost hope to ever find her again, to see her back." She looked at Laura with such deep compassion that made Laura stay quiet, "You changed that, you gave her back to me after everything. Thank you so much."

Laura stood up in time for Carol to walk up to her and hug her, crying happily. "Carol, you musta' thanked me a dozen times since Sophia came back, but it's alright. Don't worry about it, everyone else here would've done the same. I ain't no different then them. They went out an' searched to an' Hershel let us stay on the farm 'til we found her. Everyone did their part to bring Sophia back."

Carol stepped back, "I know and I can't tell you all how happy I am now that Sophia's back. You all searched for so long and Carl got hurt... I have no word to tell everyone how thankful I am."

Rick smiled at the woman, everyone in the camp was listening in, standing around with grins plastered on their faces. "It's alright Carol, we couldn't just leave one of our own behind, especially not Sophia."

"We would never have left without knowing where Sophia went." Lori joined Carol, her arm around the woman's shoulders, "Now how about you and Sophia have breakfast with us, hmm? You must be hungry."

Sophia beamed, "I'm v-very hungry!" Laura cringed a bit, she knew Sophia wasn't over the walker-hunger yet. She'd be constantly hungry for a little while, at least for a few days.

Carol nodded, Sophia stepping into her mother's arms as Lori led them to the camp and sat them down on two chairs side by side, serving them a plate of eggs each. Most of the group went with them, all enjoying Sophia's presence again.

Rick put his arm around Laura's shoulders, in a half-hug. She patted his back and he went to join them at the camp.

Daryl even had a grin on his face now, a full one, not that reluctant grin he'd get whenever they talked. He was actually happy and willing to show it, all for that little girl. It made Laura's smile fade into pure contentedness, there wasn't anything else she wanted out of this day.

Laura came up beside him, her hand on his shoulder, arm pressed against his and he stole his attention after he had decided he'd seen enough. He put his arm around her a bit, not exactly holding her to him, but it was his first display of affection in the open and Laura was just soaking it in. Sophia affected them all so much that even Daryl couldn't hide his satisfaction knowing Sophia was back safe and sound.

He jerked his head to the side and they left the camp, she assumed they had something to talk about... Probably her choosing to go with Glenn on a run into town, or perhaps Daryl was just too relaxed with Sophia's recovery to bring it up.

So she ignored the idea and began to shower her love of the fields again, picking out little details about it she admired and wished she was born on a farm, lacking the concrete sidewalks, stone walls, and cold offices.

Daryl broke her rather aimless thoughts, "What're you doin'?"

"What-?" Laura blinked, her gaze on Daryl who was looking at her strangely. "Doin' about what now?"

"Goin' into town, ain't safe. Remember, not leavin' my sight." He reiterated. _Oh that. Right._ Laura just waved him off. "Oh come on, I want to help around camp an' makin' this run for supplies will do me good. Not to mention, it'll be safer for Glenn if I go with."

"Kid can watch his own, done it before." Laura rolled her eyes, she felt like she was doing that more and more with Daryl around. "I'm sure he can, but that don't mean if there is a way to make it safer that it'd be a waste if I just sat around here all day all the while knowin' that I could be _doin'_ somethin'."

This seemed to shut Daryl off for now, he wasn't saying anything else on the matter. She could clearly see he was uncomfortable with the arrangement, he just chose not to comment further. Whether or not he'd eventually be fine with her decision was not something she could predict. He was clamming up again, possibly because he was trying to find a way to make her stay.

She didn't mind that he'd stop talking to her until he came to terms with it. Laura wanted to help out around camp, she knew from the start that she would be best utilized in this group as a scavenger or scout. That's how it's always been, it made everyone happier and safer knowing that the person they are sending out cannot die from being bitten and walkers don't want to tear her apart.

It was a win win situation, she goes first or runs into town, does whatever needs to be done and can come back with or without scratches and bites, but still be perfectly fine.

At Daryl's tent, Laura took a good long look over the fields surrounding the farmhouse, finding herself envious of the Greene family for living here. She hoped they wouldn't have to leave for any reason.

By the time Laura turned around, Daryl was in her face, confrontational. She was a little stunned at first, but quickly saw that this was the way he wanted to play this.

"You're not goin'." He snarled, biting his thumb. Laura would've smiled at him if she didn't know that would actually agitate him further.

"I am, Glenn's makin' a run an' there ain't nothin' to worry about. It'll be easy, 'specially for me, y'know fine well why. Don't need to keep repeatin' it I don't think." Laura placed her hands on his chest, trying to calm him down at least a little. "I won't be too long, we'll be back before y'know it."

He turned his head away, still nipping at his thumb whilst glaring aside. "I don't... want you to go. Not without me."

"Daryl, three people for a quick run into town? That's a bit excessive, don't you think?" Her hands reached to his arms, grasping his biceps and taking a step back. "Now I'm goin', but I won't be too long. Nothin's gonna' happen an' takin' you along would be overkill. We won't need any help."

"Don't care-" She put a hand up, "I do. Just stay here, do whatever it is you intended to do today, when I get back I'll stay with you for the rest of the day. You gotta' understand that I have to pull my own around here too, I gotta' get up an' do what I can to help in anyway I can."

He growled at her, glaring daggers now, and after spending time with the hunter, Laura really couldn't see the dangerous side of him when he was angry with her. She had to resist the urge to just throw her arms around him, to her when he showed her his concern for her it never failed to make her feel happier and happier.

Effectively, his angry refusal was actually detrimental to his goal. He was only affirming her choice to go.

She knew she'd be worried about him while she was gone too, but that was something she felt the need to put behind her. It kept her moving around constantly, it made her _want_ to be on guard while he slept. It wasn't something she needed to encourage, he would never coddle her when she had troubles, he would take care of her if there was actually something wrong and her reasoning was the same, she was always worried about him, however, she could see that crossbow and remember he had made it this long without her.

Not only that, but he _thrived_. He fed himself well while feeding others too and was extremely tough, it would take more then a few walkers to take him down. This was fact in her head, but it didn't stop the irrational belief that the second she was gone he'd end up getting bitten or eaten.

Still, she wanted to help the group and earn a title of value to the group, something substantial enough to confirm her place within the group. She already began to feel like one of them, like a real survivor, but she had this nagging doubt in the back of her mind and she could've sworn that the moment this doubt appeared in her head, she heard a very loud _**snap**_...

" _They don't want you here, it doesn't want you._ " Laura zoned out, staring mindlessly into space. " _The moment you let your guard down, it'll hurt you. All of them will, you aren't one of them... You're heart doesn't beat with theirs, their blood pumps, their bodies are warm, healthy, and so delicious..._ "

 _That won't happen, they're not like that._ Laura thought, smirking nervously to herself. They were her friends, Rick was a good friend of hers, Daryl was more then just a friend, T-Dog was so nice to her she thought so highly of him, Glenn was so funny, always being the life of the group, even when he ends up just being more awkward then anything.

Not to mention Andrea and Carol, the blonde woman cared for her and Laura was sure Carol had given her a place within her family that had comprised of both the living and dead relatives, but now adopted Laura.

 _They're my friends._ The idea brought Laura such warmth and comfort she couldn't imagine living without it.

The Voice in her mind scoffed loudly, " _Friends, what friends? I see a full breakfast, a quick lunch, and a three course dinner._ " It hissed hungrily, " _Like they'd keep you here with them forever. To do what? Live happily ever after... Fantasy, my darling. Listen to me, I love you and want to protect you. That's all_." The Voice cooed like a mother would her child. _  
_

Laura frowned, the Voice never spoke to her like this before. It was so animated now, like it was a living person, before it was her own voice in her head just suggesting, hinting at best, for her to do certain things, but never anything so drastic and never spoke with such compassion...

Was the Voice capable of the same human compassion her friends showed her...? Surely it was a trick of her mind.

 _Maybe not forever, people live and die of course, but as long as we can. I don't care if it's only for another ten minutes or another fifty years, I want to be here._ Laura pictured the groups faces, everyone, even Shane. She liked them all, Shane wasn't bad, just not a very open minded person... _For better or worse, I want to be with them all._

" _To do what though? Follow them around until they die off slowly? They will all die long before you, so long as you keep your wits about you and stay sharp. They are all watching you, like a hawk after a mouse._ " It chortled, " _Would you rather walk away alive and with a full belly? Or stay as their pet until they tire of you?_ "

The Voice spoke so smoothly, sounding so silky and at ease.

Then it forced images into her head, violent images. Laura flinched, her eyes widening as the images flickered through her mind a dozen at a time. All of them either featuring various members of the group with a gun to her head, a knife at her throat, or doing her in with an ax or machete. The others were of Laura in a more dominant position, this time she held the weapon to them, but they were already dead and she was _feasting._

Laura's mind screamed in response. _No! Stop that! I would never, they would never! Get that out of my head!_ She cried, the Voice flashed only a few more before stopping completely. Laura's memory just about forgot the violent imagery immediately.

" _Shhh, my love, it is alright. You are safe... Those are just... scenarios. You must see what could be, what could happen, to truly know where you stand in regards to them, those creatures._ " It lulled her into a more relaxed state of mind, Laura could swear she felt something akin to hand brushing through her hair, calming her. " _I only do this because I love you, because I want you to see. I don't want you to be hurt by them, think of the heart break. You friends turning against you, one of them already has..._ "

 _Shane was never my friend, he was kind to me once, that doesn't make him a friend automatically._ Laura retorted, Shane was a good person, she could see he had the capacity for the same gentle nature Rick had, she only wished Shane would actually show it again. _I do not feel betrayed or hurt because of what he did, I was a walker... I know sometimes I say I am a walker still, but I'm not. A walker can't feel love or hate, I would rather die then see them harmed._

" _You may not have a choice..._ " The Voice was sticky sweet, it sounded like what Laura expected sugar to sound like if it could speak. " _Think of the pain it would bring if Rick, your closest friend now, were to point that gun at you, call you a monster. What would happen if Andrea aimed at you, knowing who you are and still thought of you as a threat? How would you feel if Daryl-_ "

 _Enough! You'll not talk about him like that! I don't want to hear it._ Laura growled at the Voice and that silenced it for a short time. _He's with me now, he lets me in his tent when he sleeps, at his most vulnerable. If he thought of me like that he wouldn't let me lay beside him as he rested, it would be suicidal._

The Voice sighed, in a way that made Laura feel like it was disappointed in her. " _I understand, love, I really do. I just do not want to see you suffer like that. Physical pain is nothing compared to such heartache and I want you to never feel it. You must know that I-_ "

"Laura?"

Her head snapped up, her eyes wide and searching for the voice that called out to her. She looked to her right and saw Daryl standing there, eyeing her suspiciously.

Two vague images passed through her head, the ones the Voice showed her. One with an arrow pierced through her eye and another with a heart in her hands. She smiled despite the disgust the imagery brought, "Hey, what's up?"

"I been talkin' to you for a while now, ain't you heard nothin'?" He had a very confused and worried expression on, it was more obvious then his usual guarded expressions.

She shook her head, "Daydreamin' I guess, happens sometimes." This only seemed to make him more concerned, it was written all over his face and it made Laura actually fearful, in spite of her best efforts not to.

They stood together for a moment, both of them staring at each other. Laura's face was happy, with a large bright smile on her face and Daryl's with a far more serious look in his eyes. After that though, he didn't pursue it any further, but it was clear he didn't believe her or was still bothered by her absent mindedness. "I was sayin' that you don't need to do nothin' more for them. Bringin' back Sophia like that, no one else coulda' done it. You don't need to be worryin' about what they think of you now, none of 'em wanna' do you wrong after that." He didn't need to say _sans Shane_ because she knew what he meant.

"I know, I really do see that... I just wanna' help out more. Sophia's back now an' I still got so much more I can do for the group. Medical trainin', walkin' with walkers, an' even hidin' someone from walkers on this run into town. Glenn will be much safer with me at his back."

Daryl took a deep breath, "Girl, I can't let you go like that. Could get hurt, even if walkers ain't bitin' at you... They aren't the only thing out there."

Laura nodded and came in close to him, "I understand that, but I offered an' I want to help. I like Glenn an' knowin' he's safer with me will make me feel better. You got that crossbow to keep you safe an' you know how to protect yourself better then Glenn does. I can help him, I know I can. 'Sides from that, I also offered to help Rick when he plans to take Randall out from the farm. I can actually come in handy there, be able to tell if the kid has a chance at survivin' where we drop him."

That made Daryl rumble something she couldn't hear, when he stopped, he looked back up to her. "I don't care about that kid, can drop him off a buildin', don't give a damn..." He spat bitterly, then looked away from her. "I get it with chinaman..."

She gave him a lame look, "Glenn an' does that mean you're sayin' yes...?"

Daryl gnawed at his thumb, still managing a snarl while he did it. "... Yeah."

Laura threw herself at him instantly, her arms wrapping around his torso. He was shocked by the sudden contact and stiffened until he was akin to a wooden plank. "Thank you, I was gonna' go anyways, but I wanted you to understand why I wanted to go... So you can see why I want to, right?"

He gave a very reluctant nod, "Guess so."

"Good, I should be gettin' ready to go." Laura let go of him, just to watch him averting his gaze while he glared at anything around her he could see. "I'll be back soon, ain't gonna' take all day."

"Hurry up, 'fore I change my mind." He mumbled, still hating the idea of letting her go with Glenn alone to the town. He wouldn't have her back, she'd be alone if anything went wrong _._

Glenn would be there of course, but that didn't give Daryl's mind any ease. In fact, it reminded him to deliver a very pointed threat at Glenn if he didn't come back in the same condition he left in.

Laura just rushed into the tent and took up that knife Daryl had in his tent, he still had his hunting knife and this one had sat in the same place she left it when she tore off her pant leg the other day. It wasn't being used, so she tucked it into her pants.

She looked around in her duffle, shuffling through the clothes until her hand found an object wrapped up in a jacket. When she tossed it off, she saw the hatchet she'd used before, still sharp as ever.

Hooking it into her belt, Laura figured she was set for a quick run. They weren't going to be gone long, they never sent Glenn out for any longer then a few hours.

So when she exited the tent, she didn't see Daryl anywhere. Frowning, she assumed he went to vent while out hunting or the like, so she shrugged it off and headed back to camp.

She was going to show herself a productive member of the group today, even with Sophia back, she still wanted to do more. She _had_ to. Laura wanted to be part of the group and she most certainly is now, but she was still driven to do more.

As long as she was part of the group, she would continue helping until he no longer drew breath. It's just how she worked.

With a smile on her face, weapons on either hip, Laura felt ready for her little trip.


	30. Hit up the Town

When it came time for Glenn and Laura to leave, she hadn't been expecting to be given a horse to borrow for the ride into town, she thought they were going to take one of the cars or walk, but a horse...

Laura was anxious when she mounted up, it was alien to be on horseback alone, to be in control of the beast beneath her, one that could very easily throw her off _again_ or harm her in some way. This horse, however, wasn't the same one Daryl and Laura rode in the woods, Laura wouldn't get on that horse again if it meant her life.

However, the steed that was chosen for her seemed to do just fine by her.

They were off, Glenn led the way, but they were side by side as they rode into town. Laura loved getting used to riding a horse, the last one that threw her and Daryl off unnerved her, but she knew that animals had personality, some were scared of everything, some were playful, other calm and quiet. It just depended, so she wasn't scared on being on horseback again.

Laura had seen Daryl in the distance before they left, he was sure he would be watching the road they took until he knew they were really gone. She adored his concern for her, but she _needed_ to help around camp and this was how she chose to do it.

"So," She heard Glenn to her side, when she saw his face, he was smirking smugly. "You and Daryl...?"

" _What did I tell you about playing with your food..._ " The Voice droned out, sounding absolutely miserable but it made her mouth water, against her own will. Laura shoved the Voice into the recesses of her mind, forcing it out of her thoughts for now.

Laura chuckled, "You're not the first person to ask me that... Certainly not the last." She shook her head, amused. "What about us interests you so, Glenn?"

"Just... Daryl?" Glenn had a look of disbelief, "I honestly didn't think that guy would ever get a girl. I guessed wrong."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Yeah, you did. I like Daryl an', despite what people may think about him, he ain't that bad. He really does care about people, he just doesn't like them to _know_ he cares... Kinda' like why a hero wears a mask, protect themselves an' those they care about."

Glenn laughed at that, "Daryl's a superhero now? What would that make him... like the Green Arrow or something?"

She grinned at him, "That's a bow, not a crossbow."

"I know, but I can't think of any heroes with a crossbow, so just _pretend_." He chuckled and Laura shook her head.

"No, nothin' like that. I'm sayin' that he just doesn't like people knowin' he gives a fuck. Which he does, but he'd rather kill you then admit to it." Laura was sure Daryl had a higher chance of stabbing people in the group then saying he cared. Glenn made a face at her before rolling his eyes. "He ain't heartless, just doesn't like people knowin' that."

"Before we left he came up to me," Glenn shuddered, "Said that if you don't come back in one piece, I wouldn't make it to see tomorrow basically."

Laura laughed out loud, "That sounds like him alright."

Glenn rubbed his hand over his throat, "Not good news for me. Let's just stick close and _avoid_ that problem. I'd actually like to not get bitten _and_ make it back to camp without that crossbow pointed at me."

"Fair enough, just don't jump into a herd of walkers an' we'll be fine." Laura giggled, reaching over and whacking his shoulder. "So long as you walk like a walker an' don't make a sound, apparently walkers don't care, play it safe an' we'll make it back to camp whole."

Glenn shrugged, "You don't have to worry about that." He stated, rubbing the spot Laura whacked. "It's the same thing like back in Atlanta right? Just limp around and it'll be fine?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Just don't do anything really... human and, like that walker me and Daryl were watching, nothing will happen. I mean, it looked straight at us both, but because I was between it and Daryl, the walker just left. Until Daryl spoke, then it caught on." She explained, it was definitely an interesting experience.

"That's pretty cool." They were in the town now, Glenn lead her off to the left with a tug of the reins. "So you can bring a walker back, if you're around we can blend in with walkers, and you can just normally hang around with walkers. Rick told me you were a doctor too. You're really handy."

"You say that like I'm a multipurpose wrench!" They both laughed while looking around for walkers, "But I guess... Never really thought like that before. All I can see is very specific things I can do, things that ain't used much so I gotta' find other things to do with my time, to help out."

He pointed to a building ahead of them a little ways, telling her where they were going without interrupting her. "Makes sense, but when we do need them, they can be a lifesaver to have. I don't think anyone else out there can do what you do, just having you around makes me feel a little safer. Knowing that you can do all that stuff. I think that makes you like... a secret weapon, I'd rather have you with us then not, can help us out a lot."

She looked at Glenn, a wide open smile on her face. "Y'know what, you're absolutely right. I keep thinkin' that this... thing I got goin' on, since I was a walker at one time, is actually kind of a burden. Shane wantin' to kill me, the last group I was with tryin' to do the same thing, but this I can be a big help when things go south, can't I?"

He nodded surely to her, "It depends on who you're with, really. I don't agree with Shane or that group you were with, you've done everything _but_ try to drag this group gown. The way I see it, you're a pretty neat person and from how Rick talks about you... I'm happy you're here. Especially right now."

There was a longing sound in her head, " _So am I, Dessert._ " It moaned out, as if waiting for a delicious plate of food, something it desired most. Laura was struggling to keep it quiet.

"Thanks Glenn, it puts my mind at ease to know that there are less who agree with Shane then I thought... I really felt like at least some of y'all would go along with him on that." She had too, after escaping the CDC the only thing that made her feel like they weren't going to drag her off and shoot her in the woods was when T-Dog pulled her away from Shane.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about that. Between you and me...?" Glenn looked at her, wincing, "I think Shane's kind of went off the deep end. At first, he was real cool to us, helping us out and other survivors. Now?... I don't know, it's like he's not the same guy I met outside of Atlanta." Laura saw Glenn felt like he was admitting a secret to her, something he didn't _want_ to think, but did anyways.

She sighed, "I know exactly what you mean." He gave her a questioning look, "When I got to camp with Rick, he went off to be with Lori an' Carl. I just stood around with a buncha' strangers runnnin' by me, no one said nothin' to me an' I felt out of place. 'Fore long, Shane popped up an' helped me out. Pitched me a tent an' had..." _Jacqui._ Laura didn't say her name and changed it quickly before Glenn noticed her mistake. "... had one of the people at camp bring me a bedroll. He was real nice to me."

"Yeah, that's the Shane I remember." He grinned, but make a very unsure face. "Did you ever get to talk to him? Like normal I mean. He was really funny, when there wasn't any immediate danger, he would always crack jokes."

"He never made jokes with me, but I got to talk to him one night on night watch top the RV." Another big reason Laura stayed with the group was because of what Shane said to her, it made her feel safer with them. "He told me that Rick's return to the group gave everyone hope. Him, Lori, and Carl thought he was dead an' moved on best they could, but him just comin' back like that? It meant a lot to every person there an' that 'cause me, a young lone woman, survived in the city for so long... Same thing. Rick an' I gave hope to people, it was important too. Shane was extremely nice to me, made me feel better about bein' in a group."

"That's so Shane." Glenn grinned at the memory, "Sounds like him. When things got bad and people were scared, he'd give these speeches. Like, long on the spot speeches that calmed everyone down, made the the group happier to go about daily life. Shane was cool like that, always trying to make people feel better and he did it too, even after people lost their families."

"Just the kinda' guy he was..." Laura and Glenn fell into a comfortable silence, thinking about the old group at the quarry while they continued to keep an eye out around them, just checking for walkers to be safe.

The Voice hummed sarcastically, " _He shouldn't be alive right now, after everything. That's the kind of 'man' I see him becoming..._ " It cackled, " _But to be honest, that isn't much of a 'man' so much as a new kind of mignon._ " Laura couldn't stop it, when the Voice wanted to speak up, it did, it didn't care if Laura cleared her head and did what she could to keep it silent; it just always came back.

Laura looked around, it was definitely not a large town. She could see a few buildings, a clothes store, a pharmacy, a sign that pointed down the main road into the town saying _Market_ , and a small family owned hardware store.

She liked it, very cozy, even with walker lurking in the corners.

They neared the hardware store, both of them dismounted and after Glenn hitched his horse, he looked around for walkers. Laura hitched hers and joined him at the door to into the store. The glass had been cracked, not by walkers, but by a person quite some time ago. There was a section of the glass that was broken and cracked, a hole just large enough to fit a hand through and unlock the door.

It had worked, the door was just barely cracked open. Glenn and Laura entered cautiously, Glenn had his blade out which Laura could not honestly say she knew what kind of blade it was and she had her hatchet at the ready.

She put a hand in front of Glenn, when he looked at her she just winked a nodded ahead. She went first, looking down the isles and behind the counter. When she was satisfied that there were no walkers nearby, she waved him over.

"We're good?" He whispered and Laura patted his shoulder, "I don't see nothin', keep your guard up. I'm gonna' check in the back."

Laura turned and walked away, not giving Glenn enough time to protest. She was already opening the door to the employee's only rooms. It was dark inside, the blinds were down in front of the only window in the room.

She pulled the string and the room lit up.

Laura looked around for walkers, but the only body she found was of a dead walker, obvious by its mouth mainly. The lips and flesh around it were chewed through and it had a hammer hooked into its skull on the left side, which it what finally did it in.

This was an old kill, the died blood was already discolored, multitudes of insects had found the body, and the corpse stunk, but not too bad, the ventilation in the room allowed the corpse to breathe out so there was no build up of the stench.

She scanned through the room. It had no other doors then the one that she entered, there wasn't much back there. It was all cleaned out, the cabinets had been emptied and Laura didn't want to know what was in the fridge. She'd looked in fridges in Atlanta, the food that required refrigeration were all bad and she couldn't describe the milk, it wasn't a liquid anymore.

Without anything of value nor any threats in the backroom, Laura left to return to Glenn, who she could barely hear rustling through tools. He was in one of the middle isles, where a large wall of tools were hung, most of them Laura didn't recognize, she was never into hardware. So she stood by and watched him work.

He took a few things, tossing them into the backpack he had taken off his back and held open. He was shoving tools in before he looked down to the list in the hand that was holding the backpack. He seemed to pause and think for a minute, then scanned down the isle until finding his goal and threw it in with the rest of the tools, it clanged as it hit them.

Laura just leaned on the shelf, not even bothering to help, knowing fine well anything he asked for she wouldn't be able to identify, she'd just end up running back and forth with asking him if she got whatever it was on his list. That would get annoying for him and frustrating for her.

It took a few more minutes diving through isles before they were done with the hardware store. They didn't speak while digging around or on the streets anymore, it would only serve to attract more walkers... If the horses' hooves clip clopping on the road didn't. Horses were quieter then cars, Laura suspected she shouldn't be too ungrateful for the Greene's allowing them to borrow them.

They did this time to, Glenn had gotten permission from Hershel himself. Laura hoped that would be enough this time to not get on Hershel's bad side, considering the last time she rode one of their borrowed horses. He wasn't too thrilled about the ordeal.

Glenn lead her down another street and they dismounted again, hitching their horses to whatever stable object they could and entered another store. It was the market the sign pointed to, it wasn't so far into the town as she thought.

It was darker inside, as the store was deeper. Laura pulled out her flashlight but didn't turn it on yet, waiting until they actually got deep enough to warrant it and cleared the store of walkers, so she wouldn't waste batteries or attract walkers.

She took point, Glenn covered her back as she delved deeper into the cozy town market. It wasn't very large, but it was definitely big enough for the far side to be almost completely pitch black. She had no trouble seeing through it, but Glenn was beginning to squint as they neared the dark.

Stopping, she turned and handed the flashlight to him, he smiled at her, his silent thanks, and flipped it on. She continued, not slowing down in the dark as she cut a clear path through the isles. From the far side of the store, isle one with a wall on their left, they began to check out the other isles, one at a time the same way they started. Laura in front and Glenn watching the back.

They were able to make it to the seventh isle before Laura stopped again, a walker stood lamely in the middle of the isle. Glenn glanced over her shoulder, seeing the decayed walker groaning to itself. She shook her head slightly, showing him she didn't want him to just run up and try to kill it, she'd wait until they got close enough, safely, then dispatch it.

Walking slowly to the walker, it didn't even acknowledge Glenn as he reversed. He didn't turn away from watching their back, in the event that another walker left one of the isles they hadn't checked and decided upon coming after them.

When she neared the walker, she raised her hatchet from her belt and behind her head. It turned to her, groaning still, but made no move for Glenn. Close enough and her hatchet struck the walker in the forehead, piercing deep into the brain. Quickly, she reached forward and put an arm under it's own, holding it up so it didn't fall to the ground in a loud thump, which would attract more walkers.

Carefully, and quietly, she laid the walker down before they moved on. Looking at her arm and part of her shirt, she realized that whoever the walker was before must've bled profusely, because the side of her shirt where she had braced the walker's body against and her arm that she held it with were covered in sticky, old, dried up blood. It wasn't a lot, but enough to where she knew instantly coming back to camp and seeing Daryl would cause him to inspect her for injuries.

She smiled at the thought, Daryl would see the tiniest bit of blood on her and insist on a full inspection. It just sounded like something he'd do.

As they cleared out the rest of the market, Glenn relaxed and began to search the shelves. This wasn't a listed stop, there wasn't anything anyone _wanted_ but rather _needed_. It was a scavenge for extra food supplies. The farm could sustain them for sometime, but the farm could support four people, the Greene family, easily, but with so many new people at the farm, food was a little stretched thin.

Though they could continue surviving off the farm alone, Rick insisted that they didn't eat so much of the farms' food supplies when they could avoid it. So when Glenn made his run into town with Laura, they would stop off for a quick look around the local market, just to see if they could find anything worth while. It was a smart move, just because they have a stable food source now, doesn't mean that something could happen or that they should take it for granted. _  
_

So Glenn and Laura dug around to see what they could find, always remaining within sight of each other, keeping any distance between them clear enough in case of an emergency. For Glenn of course, but they both acknowledged this unspoken rule and heeded it just the same.

There wasn't much, even after scouring the sixteen isles for anything. The frozen food section was filled up though, with ruined food, gone bad from the heat. Glenn avoided the spoiled meats and other foods in that isle, Laura tried to take a look, but ended up just looking at what happens to rotten food after long periods of time. She had never seen a solid food turn into a syrup-like liquid, but she had now.

Shaking her head, she checked down more isles. The best she got was a half crushed box of crackers, all still sealed up though, so they'd be a bit crunchy. There was two small bags of chips that had slid under the shelving units. The rest was molded breads, rotted greens, and the rest was infested by insects. They couldn't save the rest of the food.

Laura didn't know if Glenn found anything, but when they were ready to leave, she shoved what she got into the backpack. She saw a glimpse of other food products in the bag, telling her he had found something at least.

These were only snacks, best saved for a time when fresh food wasn't available.

They left the market, the bag just a tad bit heavier, not as much as they would've liked, but it spared Glenn from carrying anything else excessively heavy. So far the biggest things they got were the tools.

The last stop was on the way out of the town, at the local pharmacy. Someone at camp needed something, but Laura didn't know what and didn't care so long as they got it. Hitching their horses for the last time, they entered the store.

Laura immediately picked up on the stench of the dead and drew up her hatchet, heading straight for the origin of the smell. It got stronger the closer and closer she got to the counter, when she crossed over it, she saw the body of a partially decapitated walker, who died from its skull being cut open. She frowned, this corpse wasn't _that_ old. A day or two at best.

Glenn came up, glancing between Laura and the walker. "It nearly got Maggie." His statement stole her attention, "It grabbed her and I was able to kill it in time before it bit her. She was really shaken up, she'd never been attacked by a walker before."

" _You're jealous..._ " The Voice taunted her, but she managed to ignore it for the most part now.

Laura nodded, putting the hatchet back on her belt. The concern wasn't that there had _been_ a walker in the store, which suggested that walkers could get in somehow, she made a mental note of that, but that it was very obviously killed by human hands and more recently then the one in the backroom of the hardware store. That would've meant people were actually nearby, possibly, but what Glenn said calmed her down a great deal.

She didn't want to run into another group, like the ones she knew or the one that Rick told her about. In actuality, Laura remembered him explaining that they were chased off by a herd of walkers... Where was this herd?

"We need this," Glenn snapped her out of her thoughts, handing her his list. "I already know what's on it so just... take a look around, see what you can find."

Laura read over the list, it was all common stuff, which was probably why the camp needed it. So many people would have to use it over time that eventually the well would run dry and they'd need a run into town.

The first thing that caught her eye was anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen came to her mind first, it was something she always kept in her house. Extremely common, but she realized so many people had been hurt lately that it was bound to be gone by now and, if it wasn't, Laura would be amazed. So she shrugged it off and began searching through the shelves.

Common enough medicine, it wouldn't be over the counter like that. She headed back to a sign that said _household medicines_ and looked around. It didn't take long at all to read the tags on the shelves that listed child medications, aspirins, fever reducers, and finally anti-inflammatories.

There wasn't anything on the shelf, which made Laura frown, annoyed. She sighed and scratched her head, then remembered the chips she found under the shelves at the market. She smiled again and began to look around at her feet, there were a few boxes, unfamiliar items and the like before she saw an aspirin bottle. It was still closed tightly, so she took it and got on her hands and knees, putting her face on the floor as she scanned underneath the shelf.

Sure enough, she could see - _rofen_ on the side of a bottle. "Ah ha!" She reached under it, which was a little difficult because of the tight space and stickiness of the blood on her arm, but once she wiggled her arm through her hand grasped the bottle and she yanked it out.

The last bottle of ibuprofen, possibly the last bottle of _any_ anti-inflammatory in the store. She had to warn Rick about it, it wouldn't stop them from using it as needed, but it would at least make them aware of how little they had, should the need arise for more then the bottle they found.

When she was satisfied with the bottle, she spotted Glenn in the back behind the counter and she licked her lips, she wanted something a little more... selfish.

So she snuck over to the feminine section, a few of the creamiest lotions and body washes were there. She wanted to feel clean again, knowing she'd have to take some kind of wash after this, if nothing else but to clean off the blood. It had soaked through her shirt a little and aside from that, she didn't really sweat, she never feltoverly _hot,_ something she hadn't noticed until now, but she had collected a new level of dirt and grime on her again and wanted it _gone_.

With a little bit of persistence, she was able to find a bottle of strawberry body wash, green apple shampoo and conditioner, nail clippers and finally a nail file. Her nails looked terrible, she could swear she still saw Shane's skin beneath them and the thought made her a little disgusted with herself.

She had felt that need to survive at all costs again, which is what drove her into clawing him like a walker. She wasn't a walker, she knew that, she wasn't stupid, but there were times when she felt the only difference between her and a walker was that she had some measure of reasoning left, but it would disappear the moment she felt her life was in danger or that someone would bring her harm.

The last thing she wanted was to make herself harder to tell from a walker, by clawing Shane she had done just the opposite. She would keep her nails, if she'd ever need them again, but she wouldn't make a habit of using them. They didn't even really _feel_ like nails anymore, it was like they were so much stronger now, they were _talons_ or _claws_ themselves.

It made her feel inhuman.

She was kneeling on the floor, looking through the supplies on the floor, she caught sight of a cheap box of birth control. She smirked, she supposed she wouldn't need those, without natural body functions as is, her body wasn't fertilized and could never carry. It was actually a comforting thought, she had never wanted children, never saw herself with someone to want them, especially in this world.

Ignoring the other products lying uselessly about, she collected her things and looked back to the counter, seeing Glenn just coming around from behind it, he was smiling at her.

"You find everythin'?" She asked, seeing the backpack in his hands as he was zipping up the front pocket. He nodded, "Everything. It's a good thing this place was so well stocked, not a lot of people were around to loot it, so a bunch of the stuff is still here." He glanced around the store, he was right, a lot of the shelves still had quite a few things left over. Most not useful in an apocalypse unfortunately.

"What've you got there?" He caught sight of her personal items in her hands, she bit her lip. "Umm, just a few things really. Nothin' dire or anythin', just kinda'... wanted a few things. If the bag's full, I don't care, doesn't matter, don't need this stuff anyways..." She was nervous about wanting these feminine products, they were so unnecessary now, but she just _wanted_ something nice.

He shook his head quickly, "Oh no, no no! That wasn't what I was saying." He said defensively and held up the backpack, opening the main compartment. "I was just asking. It's cool if you want that stuff, I'm not complaining. Here, put them in. It's alright." He offered a reassuring grin, a little flustered by her comment.

She smiled at him, stuffing her products in the bag. "Ain't too heavy?"

Glenn raised his chin up, "Not at all! I can carry it easily!" He had a very smug and proud grin on his face as he zipped up the bag and put the straps on his shoulders again, a little thrown by the weight, but otherwise fine.

"Thanks Glenn, it's all just junk anyways. All purely selfish!" She laughed and Glenn waved her off, "Eh, it's perfectly normal and I don't mind carrying, really. I was just asking, curious is all."

They left the store, Laura going first in case of walkers. They weren't too concerned, they hadn't seen many around since they arrived. "Well, I haven't been properly cleaned up in a long while, figurin' I deserve a good scrubbin'. All that stuff I picked up is for that express reason. I feel like bein' clean again an' took the opportunity to get what I need." She gave him a very large smile, flashing her teeth.

He chuckled, "Y'know what, that actually sounds really good right now. I must smell _terrible_!" Glenn exclaimed, pretending to smell himself and reeling back, gagging.

Laura untied her horse and mounted up. "You don't smell bad to me... course, I don't really know what smells rank an' what don't anymore. Don't really have much of a reaction either way, I mean, I can _tell_ when somethin' don't smell right, but it doesn't bother me."

He looked at her oddly, mounting his own horse. "Seriously? That's actually really cool. It would make running around like this easier, I've come across some bad, and I mean _bad_ smells before. Mostly from the geeks."

"I'm sure, most of 'em have odor's that could kill a person an' they wouldn't even have to touch a thing! Like I said, I know a bad smell from a good one! We came across this walker once that smelled so disgustin', one of the people in my group just _returned_ all the food he'd eaten in the last two fuckin' days, I swear! An' he was the big guy, he usually could take bad smells the others couldn't. It was just that bad." Laura cringed, she didn't smell anything too bad, but it was hilarious watching them all get sick from it.

That story made Glenn laugh a little, "That must've been bad."

She nodded absently again, "Yeah, it really was..."

They pulled the horses away from the pharmacy and ended their run into town. It wasn't exactly the most fruitful she'd ever been on, then again, she didn't actually know what they'd come for. Their first stop was the hardware store, Glenn had a list for it, which told her that he had gone there for specifics and not just because they could.

Logic and sense told her that this had something to do with the cars, that machine she was unfamiliar with that Hershel had, or something to do with the house. She didn't know and wasn't too interested either, they got what they came for and were heading home now.

"Did you like them?"

Another out of the blue question, they were happening to her a lot lately. Laura smiled at him. "The group I was with before y'all?" She got confirmation when he nodded at her. "Yeah, I like 'em."

" _The same way as someone likes a fine wine..._ " The Voice spotted in there, she could practically _hear_ lips smacking in her ear. It made goosebumps rise on her arms. _  
_

"But they tried to kill you." He commented, she assumed word got around quickly. She'd only told Rick and Daryl about that in extensive detail. She made passing mention of them to the group after leaving the CDC, directly after Shane cracked her over the head with the butt of his shotgun that is. If Rick or Daryl didn't say anything, Glenn probably just put two and two together. Which ever way, Laura didn't care in the slightest.

"Yeah, but look at me Glenn. It ain't hard to see _why_." She held her arms out to the side in a _really?_ gesture. He shot her a very amused look. "I don't blame 'em. Hell, I'm sure if I was in their shoes, I woulda' done the same! It's all good, if we ever cross paths in the future... Well, I can only hope they don't try to kill me again, but I understand. Y'all live in a world where everyday is life threatening an' you may or may not see it comin'. So there ain't a problem with 'em gettin' all worked up about me."

"I can see that," He was talking about her appearance, but didn't want to say it out loud. "Just thought you might, I don't know, be a little mad or something? Betrayal and things like that. I would, even if I did get it, I'd still be pretty mad."

"Maybe I should be, but I can't find it within myself to _be_ mad at any of 'em." She shrugged, it was the truth. She didn't know what it was like to live in this world as a survivor like them, she could only guess and help when she could, but it never really felt like enough. "I kinda' hope I do get to see 'em again, even if they wanna' kill me still, thinkin' I'm a threat. I want 'em to know I'm alright, that I'm alive an' well. Livin' with you guys has been great, ups an' downs, but whatever."

"It's cool having a geek on our side." He snickered as she gave him a pointed look, trying to hide her smile. She wondered if he really thought of her as a walker, but his grin and his inability to stop himself from laughing told her he was just making a little joke. Being _called_ a walker was insulting, but having fun and joking about having _been_ a walker is something else entirely. She quickly fell into laughter with him. "It's amazing you can be so calm about it all too, you were a geek and now you're not. Here you are, acting like it's nothing. I'd have freaked."

" _Because she still is in her own way..._ " It chastised Glenn, even though it knew he couldn't hear it. Laura shook her head slightly, thankful that Glenn didn't see it.

"I did to, trust me." She let out a playful sigh of exasperation. "I remember bein' a walker, when I woke up I couldn't even fuckin' _read_ anythin' I looked at. Couldn't identify a damn _cup._ It was really sad." She chuckled, "But I don't care, I was brought back to life an' I think I can deal with that."

"Yeah! That's what I keep thinking. There was a lot of talk about you when you first explained to us all about your dad and... stuff." He mentioned her father and what he had done quite awkwardly, like it was offensive. She just smiled through it, it was normal to be hesitant to talk to someone about their trouble pasts, which is mainly why she didn't ever ask people where their families or friends are. She knew the answer for most of them at least. "Everyone kinda' agreed that you obviously aren't _that_ bad. Otherwise... well, y'know-" He made that biting motion again, it made Laura giggle making him grin at her amusement. "And I never had a problem with it. I saw you in Atlanta when Andrea was with me, you didn't do anything that they were talking about, like what Shane said. You helped us, got us out of a bad place and never even _tried_ to, well, do geek things, so I don't think you'd do it now."

Laura snapped her fingers, "See! That's what I tried to tell Shane! I look back now, after he accused me of eatin' Sophia an' tryin' to eat Daryl, he said that I had plenty of opportunities an' stuff, so I got to thinkin'. I have! I've been alone with so many of you an' look! Y'all are still here! I met you for the first time in Atlanta, you an' Andrea, but I didn't do nothin' to y'all! The thought never even crossed... okay, it kinda' did, but I never did nothin' an' I wouldn't!"

Glenn frowned, "Wait- what? You did? You thought about it?"

" _She most certainly did! I wanted nothing more then to taste you, I'm sure you are just as good as the blond one. She would make a good meal to end the day... Always so feisty, I'm not sure if I prefer my dinner to roll over and die or to stand up and fight..._ " It took a moment, humming thoughtfully to itself. " _Perhaps I should find out._ " It's deep growl, the hissing sound. Laura hated it, she didn't want it to sound like that, she preferred it when it barely ever spoke.

Laura froze up and shook her head, smiling. "Not like _that_. I had bad experiences with people in the past, that group that tried to kill me an'... an' another group that weren't so good to me." Her smiled faded into a concentrated expression, "I wasn't thinkin' about _eatin'_ y'all. I was thinkin' about ignorin' y'all an' lettin' the walkers get ya. Not 'cause I wanted 'em to, but 'cause I was kinda' scared of people. I had too many people tryin' to hurt me or kill me 'cause I am the way I am, just thought y'all would do the same. I was in a real bad place then, but I still chose to help. I felt horrible for thinkin' it too, 'specially after you were so nice to me afterwards, offerin' to bring me to the group an' all."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, just looked a little off in his own world. Laura wasn't trying to say she wanted them to be eaten when she first saw them, she didn't want that at all. That's why she stepped in, because she knew what pain felt like, from the smallest things like a paper cut to being dissected and having her muscle and sinew being poked, prodded and cut apart. She didn't want Glenn and Andrea, even though they were complete strangers at the time, to feel even the tiniest fraction of that pain.

Glenn didn't get deep and thoughtful very often, but he is very decisive and straight forward. He has a goal and he reaches it regardless of obstacles, he remembered having to face Maggie after telling people about the walkers in the barn. She'd hated him for the longest time, but what he said he had meant and it won her back.

He had a bounty of confidence after that, Maggie forgave him instantly because he was being so honest and he knew he was right, she knew it too, and in the end it worked out fine. Even Hershel approved of their relationship now, he felt like he had accomplished something, jumped a hurdle most don't even make it to, not anymore at least.

Here, riding next to him, was the newest addition to their group, his newest friend. They had never spoken a great deal, but not because they didn't want to, but because they never really found time to. They had so many other things weighing on them and Glenn wasn't exactly the hunter's best friend, Glenn may actually _like_ Daryl, but they weren't exchanging life stories anytime soon.

So he spent most of his time just spotting them around camp, he wasn't _looking_ for them really, but he noticed everyone that came and went, it just came with the territory of being in an apocalypse. He always knew who was around him, what they were doing in relation to what he was doing, it was a kind of paranoia that he readily accepted and used to his advantage.

Worked for a very long time and was still working today.

"You came across two groups?" Glenn didn't hear about this one, the one she found herself stuck with in the dark room.

Laura sighed, a little tired of saying this. Not aggravated at him for asking, it was hard enough saying it to the others she knew best like Rick and Daryl, she had only told Rick because she told him back when they were leaving Atlanta that she would and Andrea could sympathize with her, she seemed like a very caring woman to Laura. "Yes, I was with my father, I escaped him, then I was... found by another group, before the one that tried to kill me. The one I liked... This other group, they weren't good people in the slightest."

Glenn nodded, "How did you... survive them, if they were that bad?"

"I don't really know. I was tied up most of the time, I was... in bad shape too. It just happened one day, I heard 'em talkin' about a horde of walkers headin' down a street nearby, that they needed to keep it down to not get overrun. So I planned to get up an' away, long enough to find this horde anyways." Laura knew it was the Voice, it had a personality but she didn't want to admit it, to herself or to anyone else and this personality was _not_ friendly. "I was able to get one of their guns, I got out of the buildin' an' dove into the horde. One of 'em got eaten, the others got away. May still be in Atlanta for all I know, but I don't really care. They ain't here an' they ain't hurtin' y'all, so I'm good."

It laughed, it actually laughed at her. " _I saved you, I've always looked out for you, dearest. Do you think I'd really leave you? I want nothing more then to help you along, satisfy your every need, food is the most important form of nurture. At that time though, food was secondary and your survival was imperative. I do hope you stop fooling around with these morsels before you find yourself in a similar situation. It'd be a shame to waste all this good food._ " The Voice spoke of the group, her friends, like fruit that would go uneaten and rotted on the table. Laura couldn't stand the imagery, it made her head spin.

He got that, accepted it as fact even without the violent details. Glenn was a kid, relatively new to the harshness of the world around him, but he had seen _plenty_ in his time running around the city, he didn't know much about other groups, but he knew enough about what happened when someone didn't move fast enough. "So, you came to help us... Why?"

"I was never a really social person before all this, in fact, I spent my time _avoidin'_ social interaction. Didn't like it, people made me nervous." She rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassingly. "But even after all those things, I don't think I can just let someone die. I didn't know y'all, I know nothin' about you, who you were, if you were a good person or not... The _not knowin'_ made me feel like I had no choice, I had to help in anyway I could. I just had to. If I didn't... I don't think I could continue on knowin' that I was responsible for someones death, someone that could've had a family or friends waitin' for them. So I helped, that's all there is to it. I couldn't stand by an' let 'em get y'all, it was like murderin' someone myself, no better at least."

Glenn smiled at her, "That's good, you were in the right place at the right time. We really did need help. I heard geeks getting close, but I didn't know how many and couldn't go out on the road to see. Too dangerous, I make a point to never go out in the streets, there is always too many geeks walking around. I'm really happy you showed up when you did, holding the geeks back like you did, it gave us the head start we needed."

"Then I did what I set out to do. I had no ulterior motives, I just wanted to help people an' I guess I succeeded, 'cause you an' Andrea are here now. Sophia's back too." Laura couldn't recall a happier moment in her life then when Sophia woke up in that barn, unless she counted when Carol saw Sophia alive again, cured. The best moments in her life. "I suppose I am doin' some good around here."

"Don't doubt it! No one could've brought her back like that. We all thought that when Sophia came out of the barn as a geek. Well, we all just gave up, even after you offered to try and cure her. None of us really thought it was possible, but I kinda' thought you could. You came back right? So I thought that maybe Sophia could too and be just like you, not having to run from geeks anymore." Glenn entertained the idea of Sophia's return to the group many times before they found her in the barn, everyone did, but when they saw her as a walker and Laura wanted to try and cure her... Most of the group didn't hope for a second that it would work.

No one wanted to get their hopes up again, only to be crushed. Sophia being turned was hard enough, but if Laura's cure didn't work... It would only make things worse, he was sure people would be mad with Laura, maybe even blame her for it not working. Glenn knew better, but it didn't stop him from knowing that he would feel disappointed in Laura had Sophia not come back.

He would never tell Laura that, he suspected she might know it about the entire group, but it would be like sticking a knife in, then slowly twisting it. Especially for Carol, she was decimated after seeing Sophia like that.

"I still can't believe Shane accused you of eating Sophia." Glenn made a disgusted face, shuddering at the horrific thought. "When he said that all I could think about was _not_ hurling. I'm glad you didn't..." He smirked for a moment, then shot her a worried look. "I mean, not that I thought... or think that you would! I never ever-"

"It's alright Glenn, I understand." She gave him a reassuring smile, "I've talked to people around camp, like you said that same day Shane said I tried to eat Daryl when we were out in the woods. I know you don't think that, but even if you did, at any given point in time, I completely an' perfectly understand. I have a strange story an' I'm kinda' weird too. Look the part now, huh? But I don't care that much anymore. I love this group, like a big family in it's own way."

" _Don't lie to yourself, little girl, adult man, pregnant woman... All fair game._ " Laura felt sick, she hadn't had an issue with exhaustion or illness since she was revived, but this was too much. " _If only I had found that girl first... It's like veal, you have to take good care of it, treat it well, and eventually you'll have yourself a fantastic supper._ "

 _Shut up!_ Laura panicked, the idea... the thought... of Sophia! Unbearable, detestable, Laura's mind raced to find some way to lock down the Voice, force it to end its torture.

It stopped, for now, but Laura feared when it would speak up again.

"That's great then, just stick with us. I think this group will make it, I don't know how, but I really think we can." The conversation ended on that higher note, it was optimistic and made them both feel better about being in this world, the dangers they faced.

Yet it almost felt like they were stopping while they were ahead, choosing not to say anymore out of dread that they'd talk about something that would ruin their high spirits.

It was a taunting in the back of their minds, but they ignored it. The day was too nice, they were going to make it back from their run safe and sound. No events, no dangers, no one else and nothing else. They enjoyed it while they could, things were bound to go wrong again. This high they were in was temporary and while they both knew it, acknowledged it within their own heads, they didn't feel like it was worth mentioning. Only so many days in a year, only so long to live, both of them were satisfied enjoying the little things.

" _You can't be rid of me._ " It chimed in, " _I'm here for good, to stay with you until our dying breath. I do not intend that to be anytime soon, naturally._ "

 _I just want you to stop. They're my friends and I don't even know why I'm talking to you! You're some part of my brain that got fucked up in the experiments or trauma talking to me. You're not real._ Laura scolded, the Voice was becoming so much more ruthless, she couldn't stand the constant sound of it in her ear, in her head.

" _I told you once, all I'm here to do is watch over you. Showing you the bad from the good is my way of making sure you understand that, making you see that I am not here to hurt you or them, but to protect you, even if it means against yourself!_ " It emphasized, sounding more and more like a mother dealing with an unruly child. " _Listen to me and listen close, this will all end one day. Perhaps not tomorrow, the day after, or the months after this, but wouldn't you rather it be over now, spare yourself the pain of later? When it will be so much worse?_ "

Laura glared into nothingness, _I would rather you stop all this, stop talking about them like that, they aren't going to kill me just because I was a walker. They've made that perfectly clear._

" _Maybe not because of that, sure._ " The Voice groaned, " _What happens when you finally give in, when you actually do sink your teeth into someone? What happens when they find out you have?_ "

Her mind reeled back. _I haven't! I've never done that to anyone! What are you trying to say...?_ The Voice was grinning in her head, it was amused by her, but it only served to make Laura more frustrated. _What do you mean? I have done no such thing!_

" _It doesn't take much to convince them you have though, would it? Just a little nip here or there, maybe by accident, maybe not even by you..._ " It offered these scenarios, none of the suggestions Laura appreciated. " _Just one bite... that's all it takes. They'll put a gun to your head and not even give you a chance to defend yourself._ "

 _That's not true, they would ask, discuss, do something before condemning me just because I could bite someone. I can do it right now, but they wouldn't kill me if I did._ Laura insisted, arguing with the Voice got her no where. _Besides, I wouldn't do that anyways. I'm not a walker and I like them, I wouldn't._

" _We'll see how long you can resist..._ "

Laura was unnerved, the Voice was beginning to become louder in her head, but she wasn't afraid of the Voice so much as she was of actually _having_ a voice in her head. She didn't want to go crazy, she still knew that it couldn't be there, that it was impossible, but she still humored it. She couldn't say why she did, but she felt compelled to talk to it.

She hoped it would stop soon, she didn't like it very much and it proved that, in the past, it could make her dangerous. Putting a gun to that man's head, Laura would never do that, she stayed and _listened_ to his screams as they walkers ate him alive. The Voice wasn't just a sound in her head, it moved her to do things and that made Laura nervous, more then anything else.

While she rode back to camp with Glenn, she wanted to keep her mind on him and what they talked about. He was a good friend too, she couldn't believe she had so many people that cared about her now after she spent her life alone for the most part and would refuse all company when she had the chance to.

But the Voice, it just kept clawing its way back into the forefront of her mind... It made her angry and frightened, she didn't want to be seen as weak, even to this Voice in her head, but she knew the Voice knew all her thoughts and fears. It was no use trying to hide them, she'd end up making herself look like a fool.

She felt like one just because she replied to the Voice, she should've ignored it, let it ramble to itself. It was just so damn _distracting._ She couldn't hear anything over it when it wanted to speak with her.

And what was this _resistance_ thing it spoke of? Laura didn't feel the need to _resist_ anything, much less eating someone. She had no desire to, no need to. It wasn't like she was fighting anything.

So what was happening to her?


	31. House Grimes

When Laura got back with Glenn, both of them laughing and enjoying each others company, Maggie and Glenn took the horses away to the stables. Laura knew nothing about saddles, reins, and the process for getting the horses back in the stables, so she was off the hook when it came to taking care of her horse. For now, Maggie threatened her with teaching her.

Laura agreed happily, still finding such joy from riding the horse and simply being around it. She would do it later, but Laura caught sight of a very stressed out looking Rick. She didn't feel like she could just leave him with that stress and find Daryl just yet.

Which is where she was heading to now. He on outside camp leaning over a fence that was next to the dirt road up to the farmhouse. When Maggie and Glenn were far enough away, she came up beside Rick and leaned on the fence beside him, acting as if she was just _there_ to enjoy the scenery. It was beautiful, considering the rest of the world, but she had a purpose.

Neither of them spoke, like there was something stopping them. They didn't dare say a word, just stayed beside each other, Laura offered a silent comfort, waiting until he told her what was bothering him.

Rick wasn't blind, he saw her return with Glenn, he could see her from the corner of his eye as she came up to him, heard her steps on the ground near him. When she leaned on the fence, she sighed and stared out over the fields, but not behind making sure she was close enough so they were shoulder to shoulder so he would know, without a doubt, why she was there.

He had a few moments with Laura when she'd just appear and actually talk about her past with him, openly too, but it was difficult for her at times; he knew that. Within a few days, he came to trust Laura as a part of the group and an active, capable body. He also saw her as a friend, with so many things behind them, going through so much, the trips to Atlanta, the CDC, Sophia, and Sophia's return as a walker. She was always near, she made a point to talk to him whenever she thought he needed it.

At times, he had needed it, but right now... He wasn't sure if _he_ needed it or if he felt like he owed her something for her honesty in regards to her past troubles. She knew so little about him, only his name, his family, and how he made it back to them.

So much had happened recently though, things Laura didn't know and he rather liked her being in the dark. Not because he preferred to keep her unaware, but because it was so much easier talking to someone who _wasn't_ thinking of his burdens. He supposed, with her here now, being alone with her wouldn't last long, especially with her attachment to Daryl and his to her. It was a _now or never_ opportunity that he wasn't excited about.

But she wanted to know, she wanted to be _there_ for him as his friend and some kind of support. To _help_ him. It would've brought a smile to his face and yet he couldn't, so many things plaguing his mind. _Big_ things too, there was plenty of food and water, for now, with shelter that served them well. They were protected day and night, always watching each others backs.

Everyone was trustworthy, they all did their best and since things began to calm down around camp, the group worked harder, faster, and more efficiently. Not because they felt they had to, but because they were well rested, sleeping easier, and having _fun_. They were able to enjoy things they hadn't dreamed of in months, it was rare and luxurious in this harsh reality; everyone wanted to pitch in more to keep it that way.

Laura was there for him though. He supposed it was because of how he treated her when they first met, he took care of her and looked after her, even kept her secret. A past as a walker? It was a _huge_ secret, but he accepted it, after fighting his own initial opinions about it, and let her in the group. She told him about the group she was with before, the one she liked, the people who were good to each other and to her. They saw her, just her face, and it was enough for them to turn on her.

He could see so much more from her face while she told her story, she really cared about them and obviously still did, from everything she said. They could've killed her, he would be a little hesitant about any group if that was him, but she still came to them, gave them whatever she could. Rick couldn't help but see her as a lost child sometimes, he knew she was stronger then that, but it was how she seemed at times.

When recounting events in her life, how she sounded, how she acted, it all reminded him of a little girl. Not in a demeaning way, he wasn't putting her down, insulting her by comparing her to a child. He very, very much loved seeing someone fight so hard and get what they wanted in the end.

Rick knew he was possibly the luckiest person in the world right now, waking up after months long coma, managing to survive what everyone explained as the outbreak, being in said coma while the hospital was overrun with walkers and military were shooting anyone they saw. He _survived_ it, only to then find Morgan and his son Duane, who took him in. Traveled into Atlanta, was nearly eaten alive, hid in the tank and took the grenade that saved everyone at the CDC later on. Glenn saved him, brought him to his group.

The group that, miraculously, had Lori, Carl, and Shane safely within their numbers. There wasn't a happier man on Earth when he saw his son and his wife in that camp the day he arrived, holding Carl in his arms after surviving hell in Atlanta, getting his wedding ring back from Lori, who had taken it when he went into the coma, fearing he would never wake up.

There were no words, his family was _alive_ and safe. Shane was there too, protecting them. At first, he figured there wasn't a finer man for the job, seeing as he was out of commission, believed dead.

That is, until he began to see signs about Lori and Shane, he knew it too, even before Lori told him. He didn't want to say it out loud, it would be like admitting it to himself as fact, but he needed to _hear_ Lori or Shane say it in order to truly believe it. So he didn't speak up, he didn't mention it, ignored the signs. Lori was pushing Shane away, he could tell. He still refused to say it.

Then Lori told him, just the other day when he and Laura returned to camp after they had gone out into the woods to look for Sophia. Well, _telling_ him was apparently too much for Lori, so she hid it and it took him confronting about what he found in their tent for the truth to come out. Morning After pills, he couldn't contain himself, he felt such hate and betrayal.

He loved Lori, he felt nothing but love for her and Carl, but it was like the odds were stacked against him. Lori was hiding things from him, keeping big secrets that she should've told him from the start. He was angry with her, so very angry, but was more overwhelmed by the consequences and appreciative that Lori actually told him instead of keeping it from him any longer.

It wasn't closure, far from it, but it was a step in the right direction and he wasn't going to throw it away.

So Rick slowly looked over his shoulder to see Laura on the fence, leaning on her forearms over the fence, hands hanging off the edge. She wasn't looking at him, she didn't even glance at him. She was letting him take his time, approaching the topic at his own pace. He was thankful she wasn't loud and nosy, if he wanted to tell her, he would, if he didn't, she would wish him luck and offer to listen and help whenever he asked.

She made it perfectly clear that she wanted to support him, give him what he needed to keep going. It was difficult to have so many people depending on him, but he accepted the responsibility and did what he could, then struggled to do even more. Above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak.

"Lori's pregnant." He finally said it, he just _said_ it. No emotion in his voice, no more hesitance, anger, or compassion. Just dead straight. "She had Glenn make a run to the pharmacy for her a few days ago. For morning after pills and tried to take them, get rid of the baby... but she threw them up."

Laura faced him now, no discernible expression on her face. She didn't speak, just listened and that was all he needed. Not someone to congratulate him on the baby or start asking questions about how he intended to raise the baby in this world. Someone had to listen to him, he needed to rant and rave about it without repercussion. Laura was giving him that chance.

"Me and you... we came back from our search, that day in the woods. I went into the tent and saw the box... a few pills were missing." He nodded to himself, heaving a sigh. "I went to find Lori, she was actually right here, at this fence. I asked her why she didn't tell me, why she kept something like this from me... Did she think I wouldn't want it? I mean... I know it will be hard, I'm not saying it won't, but I want this baby." He spoke honestly. Lori and Rick never spoke much about it now, the baby was there and that was that, but he always wanted another child. He loved Carl with all his might, if asked he'd tell them he loved Carl more then any father has ever loved their child.

"She told me that she didn't want me to know, not because she was scared of anything, but that she knew what I had to deal with regarding leading this group, protecting them. She said that if the decision was to get rid of the baby then... then it would be on her shoulders, her conscience. That she couldn't make me decide whether or not abort the baby." Rick didn't think anything of it at that moment, about aborting the baby, he wanted it and that was that. He loved children, the happiest years of his life was the moment they found out Lori was pregnant with Carl and ever since then, he couldn't imagine life without his little boy. "I don't care about that, I would rather know, carry that weight, then let her go through that alone. I can't... I would never let her do that."

Laura reached out, placing her hand on his forearm. He was still leaning on the fence, but he kicked the ground beneath him from time to time. He was still dealing with his feelings on the issue and Laura was standing by to be whatever he needed her to be. "I felt angry, like she'd stabbed me in the back... And if that wasn't enough, I dropped everything about the baby and asked her if there was _anything_ she needed to say, other secrets that she has kept from me, for whatever reason. I needed to know everything."

Her hand grasped and rubbed his arm, encouraging him. "She told me... about _them_. I... I'm not blind, I saw them together, I picked up on it real quick..." Somehow, and he felt tremendously selfish for it, but he had a harder time talking about Lori's relationship with Shane then he did about the baby. He was sure about the baby, was mad at Lori for not telling him, yet this _thing_ between Lori and Shane was hard to describe.

"Shane and Lori were together, after all this started. She told me she thought I was dead, that Shane told her I was dead... I can get that, I was in a bad place and in bad shape, surviving that... a million to one. Ten million to one!..." He threw up the arm Laura wasn't touching, huffing angrily. "I _understand_ what made her go to Shane. It's not like I haven't seen it before, I was a sheriff's deputy and have dealt with a lot of men and women who suffer loss, they lose their husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, doesn't matter what they were, just that they lost them. They seek some kind of comfort from others, even if they don't care about the person they're with or if they love them, all that matters to them is to be close to someone again... I think that's what happened to Lori... But I don't know what happened to make Shane do this. He should've known _better_." Rick growled, but the moment he felt his anger rise he took a deep breath through his teeth.

Laura got closer, her arm now across his back and a sad expression on her face. She wasn't pitying him or sympathizing, the way people did when loved ones die or they got bad news, in this case, Rick's best friend taking advantage of his wife who was, at that time, a grieving widow. She looked at him with pain and compassion, it was a quiet way of her telling him that she was here with him and he wanted her to stay, for a little longer... When he looked at her though, the corners of his mouth twitched down into a frown. Laura didn't act surprised at all, he just noticed that.

"You knew?" He asked, it came out a little harsher then he meant it. He wasn't angry at Laura, he could never see himself being angry at Laura especially while she was there comforting him. Rick was still very much so upset by Lori and Shane both, his previous anger with them was bubbling back to the surface and he was worried he would take it out on Laura.

For a moment, she didn't move. Then her mouth quirked into a thoughtful lopsided twist and she looked over the fence, thinking. She raised her hand flat, the palm facing down to the ground and tilted it from side to side, telling him that she had an idea about Lori and Shane, but never really knew beyond general appearances. She looked back to him, she didn't know anything more.

He nodded, "I knew it in my head, but I didn't want to think about it. If I did... I don't know," A groan, his hand ran through his hair, messing it. "I just didn't want to accept it. I wanted it to be false... If it wasn't... I almost _didn't_ want to know, so I could go on thinking everything was okay, that nothing happened and that Shane would never..." His hand fell, his forearm thudded against the wooden fence. He felt her hand rubbing his back, felt sharp nails scratching him lightly even through his shirt.

Rick frowned again, her nails... Shane's head and neck, she had clawed him at the barn, her nails cut in him like a knife. He confessed that it actually frightened him a bit, not pertaining to their safety with her, but that she was capable of causing that much damage at such an awkward angle while being choked and having a gun pointed at her head.

Hershel had taken a look at the cuts the next day, after they had returned to the farm and Laura brought Sophia back to them that afternoon. The older man explained to them both that had she applied any more pressure, he would need stitches. The _awkward_ angle she was at and possibly her strength faded when he was choking her caused her to not cut so deep to warrant stitches.

She could claw like a walker, scratch and cut deep. Shane was thinking that he was dead, that he'd turn and it was the end of it, even started delivering a dead man's speech to Rick, who refused it and told him he wasn't going to die. Laura can't infect people and while she proved that she can return someone from not being a walker for too long, she also proved that she couldn't turn a person she bit or scratched. This was always up for debate within the group beforehand, but there was no question anymore.

Shane was up and about, healed from his injury from the school where Otis died and most certainly _not_ a walker. He never showed any signs of the fever or delusions that Jim had, he was perfectly healthy aside from a few cuts.

Which is something that caught Rick's attention right now. Back at the CDC, that morning after their celebrations, Shane had cuts on his neck, obviously from a human hand, but Rick was far too distracted by the horrible pain in his head from drinking to notice anything else. He ate his eggs anxiously and took the medicine Jenner gave them like his life depended on it.

Rick's brow creased, his face slowly twisting to a snarl.

 _Laura's clawed Shane, head and neck. Shane appears one morning with marks on his neck, by a human hand of course. The cuts, the angle, human nails made them._ Rick felt a new level of hate rising in his chest, his breath quickened and his blood boiled. He was trying to calm himself, but it was fruitless. He didn't know whether to question Laura's judgement or if he and Shane had to _talk_ about things concerning Laura. _Did Shane and Laura... Or did he try and... Would he do that?_

"Laura..." During the time Rick took to put this together, Laura was gazing out over the fields again, but at the sound of her name, she instantly broke out of her daydream to look at him straight, to let him know he had her undivided attention. "At the barn, when Shane..." He jerkily pointed to her neck, the bruise still very prominent against her pale skin. "You raked your nails over his head and neck." Rick held a hand up, turning his fingers inwards like it was clawing something. "You left quite some marks on him."

Laura licked her lips, shrugging. "I- I'm sorry about that... I just didn't see any other way to get away from him, to get that gun off me." She defended, she didn't think anyone would really hold it against her for attacking Shane while he tried to _kill_ her outright, in front of them all. "I had to do somethin' an' all I could think of was gettin' him to let me go, so I... y'know, scratched him." She winced at her own words, she didn't like using them because they compared her more to a walker then a normal person. While, before all this, clawing someone in self defense as a woman was often quite useful, but in this world scratching someone was more relative to the undead.

Rick shook his head, "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant..." He trailed off, she knew he didn't think of her as a walker or any kind of derivative of one, so he didn't need to defend himself like that again. It would actually make him look worse if he did, so he left it alone to rephrase his question and explain his reason for asking.

"That morning at the CDC, when Shane joined us for breakfast..." Rick pointed to his own neck, the left side where the cuts were on Shane. "He had marks on him similar to the weaker ones you put on Shane in front of the barn. I wanted to ask... Did Shane and you...? Did he try anything with you? Anything at all?" His voice was insistent and on edge, but he waited patiently for her answer. He didn't have to wait long at all.

Laura jumped, a hand over her chest and shook her head quickly. "Oh no! No! I didn't give him those ones, I didn't see him once after the dinner we had the night before. We didn't _do_ anythin' Rick, I'm not that kinda' woman." She smiled at him, chuckling. "I don't know where those came from... I assume him an' one of the group had a falling out or somethin'."

That calmed him down instantaneously, Rick would _never_ think Shane capable of forcing himself on a woman like that, but in light of recent events... He wasn't so sure. Shane could be dealing with who knows what and Laura could've been caught in the middle of it, it would explain why Shane was so hateful towards her better. If Shane and Laura slept together only for them to find out she was a walker... Shane would _probably_ get very, very, _very_ mad.

It was a relief to know neither of them did and nothing had happened. He didn't want to deal with the aftermath of another unhappy couple. Lori and Shane were hard enough to deal with, but if Laura and Shane were together? Rick shuddered sickly at the thought, he wasn't sure what Shane would do if that was the case.

"Good, good... I just saw the marks and thought..." Laura patted his arm and stopped him there. "It's alright, thank you for thinking about me. I really do appreciate seeing you like that, wanting to protect me. It's very kind." Rick smiled at her, feeling a thousand times better then he did before they started talking.

He didn't know how long they were there, but they didn't stop talking for quite sometime. Rick thoroughly enjoyed her with him, she was family to him now, he didn't want her harmed in any fashion. The idea that Shane, a man he called his brother, would do something like that to Laura that would cause her to claw him? He couldn't handle the thought.

When Shane jumped her at the barn, that was completely different. He thinks of her as little more then a walker, at best some kind of intelligent walker. Had Shane ever harmed her in such a detestable way, Rick felt he couldn't be held accountable for the pain he'd cause his best friend. He _hated_ people who picked on the weak, who took advantage of others because they couldn't fight back and if he had discovered Shane had done such a thing... He wasn't sure what he would do.

The best part is that he wouldn't have to do it himself if he didn't want to or have help with it. Daryl was more protective of her then Rick, he saw the way Daryl watched her and it made him happy knowing Laura had been able to beat her past in order to be with someone. He'd never been with victims of abuse and rape long enough to see them heal from the mental trauma, but he knew some struggled with it more then others.

Laura hadn't appeared to have that same level of trauma at least. It was a good thing, a _damn_ good thing. Even in the world they're in, the past she had, she still managed to push it all aside and find someone who she cared about and requited her feelings. Granted, Rick would _never_ have seen the relationship between Daryl and Laura coming, but he didn't mind it in the slightest.

Her ability to overcome and conquer made Rick realize that people could move passed even the worst things. The strength to do this was within every last member of the group and most have already done so many times over. They lost family members, loved ones, like Andrea lost Amy, Carol feared for her daughter going cold and hungry in the wood, Lori and Carl being alive even while the world around them was torn apart.

They all dealt with their personal demons, things that kept them up at night fearing the past, present, and future. Yet they were all still functional people, working together against all odds.

It gave him a reason to smile and through their perseverance made him a stronger leader.

"I don't know where to go from here. I love Lori, and Carl of course, but I don't have all the answers." The aggravation in his voice made him clearer to her. "I know why it happened, why they... sought out each other, but I feel like I can't just let it go. Not because I feel like she went behind my back, they thought I was _dead._ With plenty of reason to believe it!... I don't _want_ to put it behind us."

He sighed defeatedly, leaning heavily on the fence and avoiding Laura's eyes. "... I don't want to let the past be the past." It was like sin, as if his feelings on this matter were incorrect, but Laura had no life experience with it. She had never been with a man, fall into a coma during an outbreak, return to the world she knew destroyed and search for her husband and son, only to find he found solace in the arms of her best friend. _  
_

She had no way to give him the comfort he needed now regarding his wife, son, and his oldest friend whom he trusted with his life and his families' life. However, she knew something that could at very best be like offering a hand to support him.

"I know what that's like," She started off easy, withdrawing her hand from his back and leaning on the fence with him. Neither of them looked at each other straight, but she could see Rick glancing her way. "Not wantin' to do the whole _forgive an' forget._ To just let _bygones be bygones._ There were - " Laura grinned darkly, " - There are still so many times now where I want nothin' more then to let it all go, let people know when I'm pissed off, make _them_ understand how _I_ feel. When people turn away from me, when they _shun_ me 'cause I look different, cause me bodily harm 'cause they can..." Laura allowed herself to trail off, not finishing her sentence now that she focused long enough to see Rick's eyes resting on her in concern.

"It doesn't matter now, of course. I just... I can get violent like anyone else, maybe even more so... Things are messed up in my head, I'm tryin' to work 'em out, but things pile up an' eventually there ain't nothin' I can do about it anymore." She gave a nonchalant shrug, "I got issues to. Sometimes when I try an' get close to someone, I have a moment where I wonder what _they_ would do to me if I touched 'em. I get over it, it's only a split second anyways, but I move on. I learn from it an' use my knowledge to stop it from ruinin' my life."

Rick turned around, his back against the fence now as he looked into camp, watching them all continue about their day. T-Dog was with Dale and Andrea, the three of them laughing, but keeping on guard. Glenn and Maggie could _just_ barely be seen heading over the far hill to the stables. Lori, Carol, Carl, and Sophia were altogether, the mothers doing domestic work while the children played around her feet and through the camp.

He hadn't taken the time to stop and _see_ these people for who they are, how they worked. It was smooth, like a well oiled machine. They did all they could with what was given to them and strived to do better with each passing day.

"Whose made you that mad?" Rick asked, in a better mood now, but interested to know who Laura actually had problems with. She scoffed playfully, "Well, if it ain't obvious already, Shane... Andrea can be really nice then say things that I feel like smackin' sense into her." She laughed, "I need to talk to Lori one of these days..."

"Lori? What did she do?" Rick thought Laura meant Lori had annoyed her, being one of the people who Laura didn't want to _understand_. He already had somethings to work out with Lori, he didn't want to know his wife got on Laura's bad side.

Laura caught this and shook her head, "Nothin' at all, I just never talked to her. Which is somethin' I wanna' remedy. When her an' I first met, day you and I met the group an' y'all all had that happy reunion. That's the only time I ever said a word to her. I'm meanin' I wanna' talk to her, get to know her. I'm friends with her husband, so I would like to know her an' Carl..." Laura got a little nervous, glancing to Rick warily. "If you'd let me, I know he's your son, wanna' protect him an' all that good stuff."

He looked at her confused and turned to face her completely, "What do you mean _if_?"

"Just..." She sucked in a deep breath, "I get that y'all are alright with me, but sometimes... I dunno', I can't predict how everyone will react to things. That's your _son_ , you'd kill any bastard who posed any kinda' threat to him. I ain't exactly ideal."

Rick shifted to get closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and bringing her side to his. "Hey, you know better then that. I don't mind if you want to spend time with my family, actually, I would love it if you came around with me, Lori, and Carl. You're right, you are my friend, and if I thought you would do anything to hurt my family, or this group, you wouldn't be. I trust you, whether you're with all of us or alone with someone."

Laura slinked her arm around his back, him being a bit taller then her, looked up to see him smiling at her. "Even Carl?" It was a question regarding a man's son and what some would perceive as a danger, which is Laura.

"Even Carl." She beamed at him, Rick trusted her with his son. It was life most precious to anyone, a child, but not just _any_ child, his own _son_ and he trusted her enough to be around him, with or without others around.

It was a few simple words, but they were profound and established a new connection. His own son and he was telling her that he trusted him with her, it was more then just a bit of trust to be around his son, but also his safety. It was a _big_ deal and Laura wasn't going to let it pass without acknowledging it. So she pulled him into a tight hug, he was surprised at first, but reacted immediately, returning the hug.

"Rick, that means the world to me. Thank you, an' I really mean it." She pulled back slightly, enough to look at him straight. "I gotta' tell you that I'd never do nothin' to hurt Carl an' would never let nothin' happen to him either, I'd fight to protect him an' all of y'all."

He nodded, "Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that." With a firm pat on the back, Laura released him and they were both felt better. Laura came to do whatever Rick needed to be done and ended up strengthening their bond. Trusting someone with their child, when he has known her for such a short amount of time, was amazing to her and she wanted to show him she'd prove she deserved it.

The two left that fence and headed back to camp, his arm across her shoulders and her's around his back. They remained close, preserving the last few moments of their talk.

Rick had many issues to resolve with his wife, but Laura made it clear that she was there for him and Lori now. She wanted to give them both what they needed to move on, Laura saw Rick's return to his wife and son as the impossible that, somehow, had happened. Now they had marital problems, like all couples, but in this world any bad event turns out to be worse then it would've been in the old world.

They could do it, Laura swore that if anyone had the ability to repair their marriage it was Rick and Lori. The husband who cheated death multiple times just to find out if his family was alive against all odds, while millions of people died or turned, most of the population on Earth, as per what Jenner said, was wiped out and through some giant stroke of luck, Lori and Carl were alive and Rick recovered from a coma _two months_ after the outbreak destroyed American government.

They had become something akin to a beacon of hope for everyone. Neither of them meant to, but it that's what they regardless.

So when they entered camp, Laura made a point to go straight to Lori. She wanted to talk to her, immediately. Not because she wanted to pry, as Lori didn't know her well and would see her pregnancy or her past relationship with Shane as none of her business, but she still had to speak with the woman.

Rick had other things to attend to, but was within sight. He was talking to Shane and Hershel, which made Laura realize that it must've been important, otherwise, the three men who lead this group wouldn't be out here talking privately with each other.

It wasn't _that_ private, but the point remained.

Laura made a beeline for the laundry lines not to far away. She could see Lori and Carol there, Carl and Sophia playing around the base of one of the trees while the two mothers hung wet clothing.

"Hello." Laura greeted from behind them, both were somewhat startled and jumped when she spoke.

Carol gave her a kind smile, "Oh, you're back. I saw Glenn and Maggie, but I didn't see you." She clipped a shirt onto the line before turning around and greeting Laura with a hug. She seriously doubted Carol would ever pass up an opportunity to hug her, her reason was Sophia sitting against the tree.

"I actually came over to just say hi really." Carol smiled brighter to her before returning to the laundry. Laura needed to find someway to strike up a conversation with Lori that didn't sound prodding or forced. So she looked around for a few awkward seconds and saw the pile of wet clothes in the basket. "Looks like there's a lot to do, need some help?"

"That would be great, thank you." Carol readily accepted the offer, there were a _lot_ more clothes then normal with the Greene family clothes in the piles now. "Could you start on that end?" She pointed to the far side. Laura realized they were doing this in sections, Carol on the far right and Lori in the middle, with Laura now at the far left side.

Laura saw another smaller basket on the far side and before she headed over there, Carol handed her a small box of clips. She stood at the end and watched them clip the clothes on, seeing how to do it for herself. She started clipping the clothes up best she could, knowing a few shirts she'd gotten wrong, but ignored it for the most part.

She didn't say anything to them, she couldn't find anything to talk about. She knew so little about Lori that she couldn't find something in common with her, she didn't have a child, she was never married, she only _just_ found someone she cared about, and she had no clue what Lori liked or disliked. There were no movies she could think of, no books or activities she could mention without eliciting a the feeling of loss or regret. So she avoided things from the old world.

Before she knew it the clothes were up and the baskets were empty. Laura blinked, how long was she doing this for?

Carol had gone to fetch Sophia, having other chores for the day and Laura saw Lori collecting the baskets and extra clip boxes. _This is your chance!_ Laura stared at Lori, who picked up the basket Carol had been using. She was alone with Lori, she could talk to her, speak freely... well, as much as she could with a woman she knew so little about.

Laura's eyes flicked to Rick who was still talking to Shane and Hershel. She wanted to do this, for Rick, so that she could know him _and_ his family, not just pick him out from the crowd. She really wanted to know them all, everyone in the group, but she had already developed close relationships with Daryl and Rick, she was starting a friendship with Glenn, now that she knew for certain they'd continue asking her for the supply runs.

Huffing, Laura sucked in all her fear and doubt, making her way straight to Lori who had just taken the extra clip box and threw them into the basket. Laura carried her basket and box of clips to her, a way to break the ice.

"Hey Lori." She smiled as brightly as she could, trying to make herself look happy as can be. "Where are we takin' these?"

Lori looked at her with wide eyes for a second, she thought Laura was gone by now, with all the clothes on the line. "Oh, it's alright, I'll take it." She went to take the basket from Laura, who denied. "I wanna' help, I'll follow you."

She nodded hesitantly, Laura saw she was a bit confused, but allowed Laura to follow her. They were heading to the farmhouse, but Laura still couldn't come up with a way to talk to her. Something, _anything_ was better then her being so speechless. Rick loved this woman and Laura wanted to get to know her, not just for Rick, but Laura had thought she should really focus on getting to know the group more and the best way to start that was to talk to the one person Laura had barely spoken to.

It was mere coincidence that it was Rick's wife. Laura's head spun with possible topics. Rick being one of them, but she didn't want to burden Lori's mind with thoughts of her husband anymore. Lori being pregnant, telling him about her and Shane. Rick was _not_ a topic she wanted to touch. Carl? How absolutely _weird_ would it be for someone you barely know to walk up to you one day and ask how your son is doing?

In the old world, that could land someone a _nice_ talk to a few police officers.

So Laura sighed, mad at herself for not knowing _anything_ else about Lori. She literally knew _nothing at all_ and it made her feel stupid, like because she talked to Rick so much and he was the one who kept her little walker-past a secret when he had nothing to gain from doing so, he just did because he was thoughtful of others. She just _had_ to get to know Lori, she felt bad for not trying at the least.

They entered the farmhouse and took the baskets into a backroom where a few utility supplies were stacked up. It was an old laundry room, but with no electricity or water running, it was useless. So they had used it as a storage room now, where various accessories were kept.

"Here." Lori had slid the baskets underneath a shelf, took the basket from Laura and put it with the others. She put the clip boxes on one of the shelves and turned to leave. The room wasn't large enough for two people to squeeze through, not with all the stuff that's been piling up in the room.

Laura was about to turn around and exit so Lori could get passed her, but Lori gave her a very pointed, but confused look and right as Laura was trying to step around the stuff in the room to leave, Lori spoke up. "What do you want?"

Laura spun around, blinking at the woman. She was reeling in shock from the sudden and stunning question, it was said suspiciously and caused Laura's mind to go blank before shaking her head and replying. "I'm sorry, what?"

Lori pursed her lips, she wasn't angry or afraid of Laura, she just didn't know what Laura was doing. "When we were hanging clothes, you were staring at me. Then you offered to carry your basket back, the entire way to the house you were _still_ staring. You haven't said a word, just smiled at me. I don't know... I'm a little uncomfortable." She said honestly, a hand running through her hair.

Laura's eyes went wide, "Oh! I'm so sorry. I feel like such an idiot!" She put her head in her hands, shook her head, and looked back up to Lori. "I actually wanted to talk to you, but I... didn't know how."

She frowned, "What did you want to talk about?" It was a concerned and curious tone now, but still held suspicion.

"Nothin' important really," She shrugged, looking off to the side. "I just... Look, you probably already know that me an' Rick are friends, we talk to each other sometimes, but I came to realize that... the only time I've _ever_ talked to you, the _wife_ of my friend, was the day we met, the day Rick an' I both arrived at camp for the first time... An' I regret not talkin' to you, I wanna' get to know everyone an' I felt like gettin' to know you... would be a good idea." She answered innocently, worried that her reasoning fell on deaf ears.

Lori stared at her hard for a moment, as if trying to see through Laura who was standing there nervously biting her lip and shifting on her feet. It took a minute, but Lori nodded and her expression softened. "Why didn't you just say that?"

There was a small chuckle from Laura. "I didn't want to sound like you were part of a list of people I wanna' talk to. I wanted to come up to you an' talk, just like normal people do. I've only ever really talked to Rick an' Daryl about stuff, rarely Andrea. I've spent a little time with Glenn an' T-Dog. Also talked to Carol a tiny bit, but I feel like Sophia bein' around spoke more me an' her then anythin' I could ever actually say. Even Dale to a lesser extend though. You're the only person in our group I've never talked to an', like I said, I think I'm a decent friend to Rick an' he's been great to me... So I thought that... gettin' to know his wife was actually a step in the right direction, tryin' to get closer to the group an' everyone here individually."

At her nervous confession, Lori smiled at her happily. "Alright, we can talk. I don't see why not. It was just strange having someone follow me like that... I guess that's really because we don't know each other very well. I know so little about you and you know so little about me." Laura smiled at her as Lori continued, "So let's go back outside and talk then, okay?" Laura nodded, smiling back at Lori as she left the room, Lori right behind her.

 _That was relatively painless._ Laura smirked, Lori had been the one to speak first and Laura wasn't against actually admitting why she wanted to talk to Lori. The wife of her close friend, she felt like a complete moron not taking the time out of her day to actually talk to the woman.

As they left the house, Lori held a hand above her eyes, looking out to the camp, but she remained on the porch. She was looking at Carl, who was with Carol and Sophia now. She trusted them and decided to sit down to talk with Laura, on the same rocking chairs Laura and Rick had sat down together before.

Laura took the hint and sat with her, "So what do you want to talk about? Anything in specific?" Lori asked, wondering if Laura had another reason for wanting to talk to her. The baby was the most likely topic, everyone wanted to talk about the baby.

Again, Laura just shrugged, "I really have no ideas. I just felt bad for not gettin' to know you... or tryin' to at the very least. I don't know anythin' about you or Carl, I just know Rick an' that's it." She frowned, she had such weak connections to the members of the group, not as survivors, but as people.

"Well, what about we start with the basics?" Lori tried to make it easier for Laura, who had been struggling the entire time to find something to talk about. "How old are you?"

Laura instantly brightened at the start of a conversation, which made Lori smile more. "I'm twenty-five." She answered simply, "I was born healthy, no medical issues whatsoever. I haven't had any really, unless you count that before all this walker business I had to wear glasses, but I don't need 'em now."

Lori was interested, "Really? So... being cured actually helped your eyesight?"

"Tremendously!" She replied ecstatically. "I can see in the dark now, like it was day. I can't see too far, but I without glasses or contacts I can see without blurriness."

"That's good, I wouldn't know what to do if I had to wear glasses with all this going on." Lori mused the idea, it was not a good one. "If they got broken I guess I'd be out of luck." It wasn't a good thought, wondering what it would be like in this world with even the slightest disability, even one so common and so easy to fix as the need for glasses. It was simple in the old world, but today... it was not good.

"What about your career? What were you?" Lori hadn't heard from Rick about her occupation yet.

"I was a doctor, for a short while of course." She had been a doctor for such little time she barely considered herself a doctor. "I had only just become a certified doctor for about a year or so when the outbreak hit."

Lori was surprised at this. "A doctor. Really?" She remembered when Carl was shot, how they needed a doctor, a surgeon, but got a veterinarian. She heavily doubted Hershel's ability to save Carl because of it, but she believed that he knew what to do on some level and it worked, Hershel was successful and Lori held do more doubts about him now.

But she still would've liked to have had some kind of _human_ medical professional with them.

"Yeah, I didn't do much of the big stuff. I was hired at an ER so I dealt with a lot of things that required more immediate care, but I wasn't the most experienced in the world, nor was I the best." Laura thought she was good, told she had good bedside manners and was able to help many people.

"... Could you have... helped Carl when he was shot?" Her voice wavered slightly.

The question made Laura really wonder if she could've. She never dealt with a gunshot wound before, never had to deal with the damage done and she didn't know if the wound was clean entry and exit, if the bullet was lodged in his body, or even where the gunshot wound was on Carl. She never looked. "Maybe... I don't know. I never had to deal with someone who got shot before. I guess I could've, but I don't know what happened really, so I can't say for certain."

Lori nodded, she didn't mind at all. Carl was alive and walking around again, rough housing even. So she was happy. "What about your family? I remember what you said about your father... but what about your mother, siblings, aunts or uncles?"

Laura shook her head negatively, "My mother left me with my father when I was four, never even tried to contact me or take custody. Just left one day. I don't really remember her other then the pictures in the house." Lori felt bad for mentioning it, but it was a part of knowing someone. Knowing their family, just like Laura said. "I have no brothers or sisters. I've never met my grandparents and don't know anythin' about any of my relatives. Guess that was a stroke of luck on my part, huh?"

Reluctantly, Lori agreed with her. Not having any real family before all this happened actually made it easier. "Did you have anyone in your life? A boyfriend? Or fiancée?"

"Nope, I lived alone an' never dated anyone." It was a clear and crisp answer, one that surprised Lori. "Really?" Laura nodded again.

"So you're saying that..." Lori glanced out over the fields, to where Laura and Daryl's tent was. "... _Daryl_ is the first man you've ever been with?"

Laura snickered, a slight blush crept to her face. "Yeah, first guy who I've ever really had anythin' with. I was in a group before I met y'all an' there was a guy there who showed interest, but it didn't work out. Me bein' as I am, I had to leave 'em, so they're out there alive, if you're wonderin', but Daryl is the first man I've actually pursued a relationship with."

That made Lori shake her head with a smile, "That's quite a leap. From prince charming to redneck with a crossbow." It was a joke, playful teasing and Laura knew. She whacked Lori's arm lightly, "Hey! That's _my_ crossbow wieldin' redneck an' I like him a lot. He doesn't act like it, but he's actually really nice when you get to know him. He's been nothin' but the best to me."

"I wouldn't have seen that coming..." There was a barely audible sigh from Lori, "Then again, same problem. I don't know him beyond having said a few words to him... He could've fooled me."

Laura looked at the porch floor with a frown, "What do you mean?"

Lori saw Laura looking a little worried about her statement. "I just... There have been a few times where I've talked to Daryl in the past. None of them ever really ended out well."

"Like?" Laura wanted to know, not just because it was _her_ Daryl Lori was talking about, but because she really wanted to know if Daryl was actually being hurtful to the group. If there was anything he'd ever done in the group that would have caused their usual avoidance of him, other then the fact that he used to spend all his time around Merle, which, that in and of itself kept everyone away.

Lori didn't want to say it, but she wasn't going to lie like it never happened. "The night you were in the barn with Sophia, when Rick and Glenn went to find Hershel... They left in the day and it doesn't take that long to reach town and come back. It was dark out, almost midnight, and they weren't back." Laura remembered Rick telling her about that night, it was the one where they picked up Randall. "I was so _worried_... I thought... I thought something had happened."

Laura understood that, she didn't know what to say to Lori about it, clearly the three were back now. So it must've gone fine enough...

"I went to Daryl's camp, he was the only one I felt I could trust with this. I couldn't ask Shane..." She trailed off, not going into detail about that and Laura knew why, so she didn't prod. "I found him at his fire, carving arrows I think. I asked him... I felt like _begging_ him... to go see if he could find Rick, Glenn, and Hershel."

It mustn't have worked, Laura knew he was angry after seeing Sophia as a walker. He fought everyday to find her, nearly died more then once, and kept fighting until they opened that barn. Sophia being turned was a blow none of them could take, so when Laura had entered that barn with Sophia, she knew none of them really believed she could bring her back.

They all lost a part of them that day, hope was crushed but when Sophia came back, it was an awakening. They had nearly lost the most innocent member of their group, that little girl meant so much to everyone, regardless of if they even knew her or her mother very well.

"He told me no, of course, but... I don't know, the way he said it... I was angry. I was scared. I wanted to know they were safe, that Rick was still alive. Out here, in this world, being late, taking too long for anything... It never has a good reason, it always, _always_ , is something bad and I was right. They were in a shoot out, they could've died..." Lori hated thinking about it, that night... she didn't care about the car accident, not at all compared to what _might_ have been the worse night of her life. "I said something... I was harsh on him because he didn't say yes. I was wrong to say it, I know that now... but all I wanted was Rick back, safe, Glenn and Hershel too. But Rick..."

Laura reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, relaxing the woman. "It's okay, I understand. Daryl ain't the easiest to get along with, I know. I know how he can be with people... I mean, when I first talked to him, he was rude, not as bad as he normally was back then, I'm sure, but wasn't exactly the kindest man I ever met." She giggled, "In fact, he called me a bitch."

Lori stared at her, "And this is the man you love?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, I don't know about _love_ really, we just started likin' each other, give me some time to think _that_ through!" She found Lori's stunned look amusing, so she laughed a little. "His brother was cuffed to a roof. If I was in his shoes, I wouldn't feel to good neither. If you didn't notice... when Rick an' Shane told him about Merle bein' up there, alone, sufferin' from dehydration an' exposure, Daryl was actually cryin'. That kinda' death ain't pleasant, I've seen people who've come into the hospital I worked sufferin' from it. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Lori knew that was true, but she still hated that Rick went after Merle and the guns, right after he found them. She had every right to be angry with the decision to rescue Merle and they did end up needing those guns rather badly. "Neither would I really." She, however, didn't notice Daryl's strong reaction to the news. "I didn't see Daryl cry though."

"He was, he fought it, did what he could to hide it, but he was." It made Laura's heart lurch at the idea of something causing him that much pain. She couldn't very well go out and find Merle now, but she didn't like knowing that Daryl was missing his brother. "When we found Merle's hand on that rooftop, it was just as bad... if not worse. He was screamin' an' cryin'. That was the only family he had an' now, for all we know, Merle could be a walker now, he could've been eaten, or he could be out there survivin' on his own, maybe with another group. Point is, if someone did that to Rick, you'd be just as sad and angry. Daryl's got human emotions too..."

That was true, she knew no one had _no_ emotion at all, but she still hated Merle, that drugged up asshole who was always disrupting camp or harassing them. She wondered constantly when the day would come that Shane, as Rick wasn't there at the time, would end up having to either kick Merle out or the other _worse_ option.

"... even if his life depended on honestly, he'd deny it."

Lori laughed, Daryl was rather insistent on being known as the loner of the group, always was separate from them, never allowed anyone near him, never touched people... She paused, Daryl was actually very much like a rebelling child. She didn't want to think of him like that, but he was. He always denied other people anything, he would refuse to do so much, but when the time came, when they really needed him, he would show up out of the blue and fight for them, without question.

It made her smile again, Daryl was actually a good guy. When she insulted him, snapped at him that night, he rebutted with his search for Sophia and his feelings about Sophia being turned was clear now. It wasn't that he was _asked_ to do it, but that he felt he had to, he wanted to find that little girl for Carol, for the group, and _himself._

"I should apologize to him." Lori commented, she felt bad for biting at him like that. They were both mourning Sophia and she was dealing with wondering if her husband was still alive. "Maybe, when you're with me too... just in case."

"Absolutely." Laura stood up, sighing deeply. "I figure he should be back soon. You up to it today?"

Lori rose with Laura, "Yes, I want to put it behind me." She couldn't stand what she had said to him, he was in pain facing the loss of Sophia, the girl he had shown he would die to find, and she had offended his hard work. She had offended him as a good man.

Laura lead her off the porch and they were heading straight for Laura and Daryl camp, which made Lori a little surprised. "You're taking me to your tent?"

"Yeah, I figure it's best. He shouldn't be gone too much longer an' I was gonna' head back up there anyways. Might as well kill two birds with one stone. You get my support, bein' that Daryl doesn't often get mad in front of me, guess he don't like to, dunno', not important!" She laughed, "So just come on up, we'll talk a little more 'til he gets back, assumin' he doesn't stay out late."

The two women continued through the field, just walking in silence. Laura felt like she had completed another feet, she had talked to Lori and built something between them. No arguments, no disagreements, Lori showed no signs of shunning her or being uncomfortable around her, and Laura started to like her. Not because they seemed to get along so far, but because Lori was a soft spoken woman who had her own moral compass and, though a little hesitant to voice her opinions, would do so when honestly was asked for.

Laura thought that Rick would've seen them leave camp, she hoped he wouldn't be upset with her, but he had said he trusted her alone with his family and right now, giving Lori the chance to put her harsh words to Daryl, whatever they may have been, behind her so she doesn't have to think about it anymore warranted her being alone with Lori for at least a little while, until Daryl came back.

She was excited to find Daryl after her return into camp. The run into town was nice, she liked spending time with Glenn and it proved to the camp she was capable of doing it. She could see herself partnering up with Glenn in the future.

She also hoped Daryl wouldn't mind Lori following her into their camp, but she was entitled to her choice in friends around the group and didn't want animosity between anyone at camp and Daryl or herself. Helping Lori with her apology to Daryl was a part of that.

Finally, the camp came into view and she loved the sight of it. Just looking at the tent, the string of kills between the trees, the commemorative necklace of walker ears, and the stone fireplace standing alone, it all made her feel more... _homey_ even at the end of the world.

Possibly even more so then if the world hadn't been overrun by the undead. She felt better here then at her own apartment before the world went to hell, she wondered if it was because there were people she cared about around, if it was because this was where she spent her off time with Daryl, or because she just preferred the fields and wildlife to stone walls, stone floors, and skyscrapers.

She sat in front of where they would start a fire, the ashes still black from last night and Lori joined her.

They spoke for sometime after arriving at the small camp, talking about whatever came to mind. Whether it was the old world or part of this new threatening one, but they were never in a bad mood and didn't discuss anything that upset either of them.

Laura felt like she started to make a new friend and with Rick's wife, the one she was so worried about pleasing. She didn't want Lori to hate her or even dislike her in the slightest fashion, she wanted Lori to approve of her, like Lori being friends with Laura was encouraging her to be closer to the Grimes family.

It was nice, especially after a day in town, with Glenn, then with Rick, and finally with Lori. Everything went well, even though she knew Daryl didn't like her leaving for the supply run.

He still let her go, she would've gone anyways, but she didn't want to leave with him being mad with her. They were barely _together_ as it was, all Daryl said to her was that he cared about her, which was a big enough deal for Laura to begin trying for a real serious relationship with him. She hoped he felt the same about her, but she wouldn't hold any grudges if he decided he didn't like her as she liked him.

She told Lori about her relationship with Daryl, she spoke openly about it, and it felt calming to talk about it with someone experienced with serious relationships.

Unlike Glenn, who compared him to the Green Arrow. Which still made Laura laugh.


	32. Evolution of a Walker

Days began to slow down, the quiet life suiting her group. They were content on the farm, happy to cook, clean, and help out any way they could; knowing that this was Hershel's land and he was quite keen on kicking them off of it. Lately, after all the fuss with the barn, with Beth's collapse, and Sophia's recovery going by, it seemed that clearing them off his land was no longer on his priority list.

In fact, it appeared to have changed his mind. At least to some degree. She hadn't spoken to him as of late, mainly because she kept with Daryl, rarely ever going far enough outside his range, unless she was checking on Sophia or some other small tasks set out for her in the day. Hershel was a kind man, he was simply very innocent of his surroundings.

It felt strange to think a man of that age and wisdom could be so easily fooled by what was happening around him. He'd lived through many a disease striking the country, none of them were of this magnitude and all wearing off shortly after they begun. So he was obviously believing that the same would happen again, that a cure for it was simple and would be carried out to the survivors of this illness sooner or later... He knew nothing of the outside world, nothing about survival or the walkers and what they truly were.

Laura knew about what happened in the bar that night Shane opened the barn, she knew in more detail as Glenn had told her event by event what really went on. She still fully believed that Rick did right, she would've done the same if she had the nerves; she knew she wouldn't be fast enough, not with any weapon to beat two armed people in a quick draw scenario. They were lucky that Rick had such familiarity with a gun and bad situations like that.

The prisoner they brought back with them was another story, Glenn said he was scared enough by the tenseness with the two men in the bar, knowing that others were coming for them and opened fire on them. When the walkers were gathering around as they heard the gunshots, one of the people firing at them had tried to jump back into their car and escape, fell on a spiked fence in between two nearby buildings.

Rick felt powerfully compelled to save the boy, he felt that leaving him was something quite cruel and inhumane. Which is probably right, Laura thought so at least, but risking so many lives for someone who wanted to kill you... She wasn't so sure about that.

Regardless, Rick did what he thought he could do to help. So he forced the boy's leg off the fence and carried him back to their car, which they escaped in with him blindfolded.

Not that he needed it, he was in so much pain he had passed out most of the ride. Glenn was tasked with holding the gun on him while Rick raced back to the farm.

Laura hadn't seen the boy or heard much about him. Daryl was suspicious in this way, he was extremely adamant about keeping her away from the shed he was locked in. From what she'd gathered around from Glenn and Andrea, Daryl took the job to get information out of the boy, Randall and ever since he, as they put it, found out enough about Randall and his group, Daryl made sure that she was no one near Randall.

Anyone she asked avoids speaking about it, like it was some big secret and she wasn't to know about it. Glenn didn't want to say anything, he just glanced towards Daryl, who was near at the time, and told her he didn't know much other than Randall's going to be released, according to Rick's plans.

Laura gave up asking about it for a while, trying was just proving useless anyways. So instead she filled her time with hunting lessons, tracking, and generally helping around the farm. Lori and her had gotten a little closer, enough to where Lori was comfortable around her without even considering her appearance and history. Laura was happy about that, about being able to befriend Rick's wife to such a degree that they could interact with no concerns or fears.

This eventually built up to Laura being around Carl, as Carl was usually around Lori or Carol.

She knew, at first, Lori was a little tense about it, just out of instinct and not real concern. After a few moments, she just didn't even really notice Laura anymore when she was around Carl, in fact, she asked that if she could keep Carl with her when Lori had too much work piled up. She wasn't watching Carl for long, as Lori just needed a few moments to clear up some jobs around the farm.

Daryl didn't usually stick too close to her and she didn't stay with him at all times. Many times during that last few days, Daryl went out without Laura and Laura went to do what she could at the farm.

Most people weren't that busy, since it was so quiet around, the work leftover from the last few events was finally being finished up and it was getting quieter and more relaxed around camp... as much as it could be with the undead roving in the woods.

Laura didn't have too much she could do anymore, other than helping Sophia and learning how to hunt. She went on watch a lot during the nights now. Daryl didn't particularly like it but she was the best to be kept up there. Without feeling tired and being able to see at night, having Laura on watch was safer then having anyone else up on the RV.

Rick would try to keep on Daryl's good side, so he wouldn't have her on watch all the time, just for a large part of the night and sometimes not at all. Laura didn't mind being on watch, it gave her something to do. She wouldn't say anything, but while she did enjoy being around the person she cared about personally, it was rather boring to just sit somewhere and do nothing, just waiting for that person to wake up so she could actually do something.

So she convinced Daryl to let it go more and more, allowing her longer times on watch and more often. Not that she disliked being with him even while he was sleeping, she knew that having anyone alive in this situation was extremely lucky, but she just didn't want to waste time doing nothing when she could be helping; she knew she was a part of the group now, felt it without a doubt with what's happened in the last few weeks.

She progressively wanted more freedom, knowing that she could wander the world relatively freely, but felt compelled to remain where she was because of the people she's come to want in her life, want them safely around her. She couldn't ever do much for them, but whatever she had she'd give them.

At this point, she was finishing up with her last tracking lesson for the day, it was more of a "how to gut and skin" lesson, but it didn't start as such.

She was approaching the farmhouse in search of someone, preferably Rick who could tell her what she could do to help more so than anyone else around. However, as she took the first step onto the porch, Hershel had exited the farmhouse and came face to face with her.

She was still a little nervous around the Greene's, given they didn't know much about her condition or her history like the rest of the group did. Laura just paused and gave a cautious smile.

"Hey Hershel, how're you?" She attempted pleasantries, hoping that the older man wasn't too distraught with her. "I'm fine, Beth is doing better today as well." He was wiping his hands off with a little towel he kept in his pocket. Hershel looked out behind Laura at the group, who were working hard to earn keep. "It looks like your folks have really picked up around here. They're really helping out around here."

Laura turned around to see them all scattered about, each one trying to do their jobs right. "Yeah, it's been great. I'm really happy we found your farm. It is harsh out there, sometimes it gets really bad and we were certainly in a dark spot when we ran into you."

"So I hear," Hershel tucked the cloth back into his pocket, then gestured to the two deck chairs. Laura nodded and took a seat, Hershel not far behind her. "We never really had a chance to discuss about what happened with that little girl." He caught sight of Sophia playing with Carl, she was sensitive and a little slow behind Carl, but she was doing better than she had been.

"Ah right, you did want to talk about that, didn't you?" Laura winced, she only was able to give the Greene's a very glossed over explanation, as it was tense and everyone was tired from previous exertions.

"I would like to know some things, a few points that have eluded me that I would prefer be answered, if you can give them." He was trying to be polite about it, but she suspected that due to him letting them stay on his farm so far, that he was far more expectant to get answers.

Laura took a deep breath. "If I can I will definitely answer."

"First of all, how were you able to bring that little girl back?" He appeared to be in thought himself, less focused on Laura and more of the meaning of it all. "Before, I would have assumed you had medicine to cure this disease, but now... I realize what it really is and am caught between the answer being a cure or something else I do not understand or know of."

She tilted her head a little. "Well, I am not really able to cure the disease, as I mentioned earlier. This only uses the infection that already is established in a human host and allows for sentient thought and action again. I can do this through my unique situation." She sighed, Hershel finally turned to look at her directly. "I was really alive and human before the outbreak happened. I was bitten and infected, but before I... died from it, I went to my father, who, at that time, was an ex-scientist for the CDC and had medical training."

Hershel seemed to take this in, "Why didn't you go to the hospital or the authorities. That's usually what everyone does in an emergency."

"I wasn't exactly normal I guess, I panicked and took the most familiar source. I know it probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had, as he was not a good father to me." She shrugged nonchalantly, "I didn't want to run to the cops or the hospital, I was just scared. Someone tried to eat me and I wasn't in my right mind for making a good decision."

She took a moment, remembering her frantic thoughts after she escaped her infected neighbor. "Depending on your perspective I guess, it was either the right choice or the wrong one. He took me in and used me to find a cure." Hershel looked a little confused, but didn't speak up. "Subjected to various uncomfortable and painful tests, the suffering of dying from the infection was enough to make me happy to be dead. I woke up sometime later though and was like I am now, relatively alive. My heart beats, my blood flows through me, and I can think for myself, but I'm not really alive completely. My heart beat is so slow any doctor would say I was well and gone. I don't heal very well because my blood flow is so bad. I also don't really look very alive."

He nodded, glancing down a moment. "You are alive though and was able to give that little girl a second chance." He leaned forward to her a bit, trying to convince her of what he sees. "That's a chance she never would have had if you were not here to give it."

Laura cracked a smile. "I suppose, but I know now the full extent of the effects. I don't know what's gonna happen to her or if it'll even help her very much in the end..." She gave a defeated sigh, "Living like this isn't exactly easy or painless."

Hershel seemed interested, "What changes that little girl from being who she was before this? Aside from her rare experience and knowledge of it."

"Like what I said at the table. Our senses are heightened. We feel more, we're weakened, but somehow more resilient because the damage doesn't stop us so much as act as a small inconvenience." She rubbed a hand over her neck where a rather large and darkened bruise was. She had collected so many that she'd grown so accustomed to her black, blue, and purple skin that she forgot what she looked like before it all. "My injuries will not heal fast, they will last a very long time, unlike you, yours heal normally of course. Sophia will feel them, if she scrapes her knee, it will scar. If she cuts herself on a thorn, it will scar. If she breaks a bone, it can take a very, very abnormally long time to heal and it will take even longer to stop hurting."

He leaned back into the rocking chair, thinking on his next words. "... Those in the barn, the ones we kept. My son, my wife..." Laura spared him a saddened look, "I remember what you said, about having seen them in hopes to help them like Sophia. I want to know a little more about that, for closure, if you will humor me." Hershel was being kinder now, perhaps at first believing he had to be more forceful to get an answer, but now could see that Laura was willing to talk and give him what he needed.

"I did, Rick actually came and asked me to specifically." Hershel looked back up to her upon hearing Rick's involvement. "He really did want to help, to make things better and try to keep everyone safe at the same time. Y'know what they say, if you try to please everyone, you'll end up helping no one." He almost grinned at that. The weight of the conversation kept any real enjoyment out of it though. "I did look though, I didn't see Sophia in the barn when I first checked in though. She is small and I didn't go on the barn floor to look around..." Laura furrowed her brow, she hadn't seen Sophia in the barn at all, she was most likely under the platform she was standing on. "... The body decay's with no blood flow, it dies and, um... _returns to the soil_ _,_ if you will. Those wa-" She paused, glancing quickly to Hershel, "Those people were too far in the stages of deposition for me to help them. The injuries they suffered from were not curable by a medicine or a pill. If any of them had a chance to survive beyond where they were at that moment... they'd need extensive surgery and constant doctoral supervision... even then..."

"I understand, I just had to be sure." Hershel took a deep breath in and out. "I didn't want to leave any stone, as it goes. I figured that would be more than enough reason to just be glad that they're in a better place now, that they won't see the world in this state."

Laura bit her lip, feeling sorry over what happened at the barn. "Yeah, I suppose so." She wasn't really religious, she wasn't much of anything except for a doctor. No point in saying anything about it though, it doesn't matter in the slightest. "I so wish I could've done something more to help, I don't know what, just something... I don't know the extent I can do yet, but I intend to find out some day."

"I think that would be very helpful." Hershel offered her some comfort, placing a hand on her shoulder as he stood. "You've done quite an amazing feat the last few days, helping in the ways you have, no matter how small or how large." He looked out again to see the group doing chores, Glenn gathering harvesting all sorts of fruits and vegetables with Maggie. Lori and Carol cleaning everyone's clothing. Dale on watch, Andrea keeping the weapons in working condition. T-Dog and Rick off over looking a map of the farm, planning out the camp assortment for better protection and quicker response for walker attacks.

It was all just jumbled up work, Laura dabbled in curing a child, watching another child, being posted on night watch, doing various domestic jobs, practicing hunting and feeding the group, and having her medical skill on call. She did her runs with Glenn in town and reduced the risk of walker attacks when in a small group. She smiled rather brightly, "I can be useful, at least, sometimes."

"You've done a lot around here." Hershel returned her smile, albeit not as beaming as hers was. "Perhaps you can come around more often and let everyone know you're still out here. You disappear so often, I hear people wondering where you went."

Laura chuckled, "Well, I'm usually with Daryl, you won't see him a lot around as he prefers to be alone, or, at least with me nearby." He nodded at that, "I see, we would still like to see more of you. What you did for that little girl was nothing short of a miracle, when I even questioned my faith."

She felt a little flustered, "That's really kind of you to say."

"Are you a religious woman, Laura?" She looked up quickly, knowing he was and she wasn't... She didn't want anything to really part them in this walker infested world, let alone religion. "I'm not particularly, sir."

He didn't seem phased at all, Laura mused that he must be used to the idea of the survivors not being very god-fearing when their world was a constant place of terror. "I understand, this world is very challenging. However, I always seem to find something to remind me of my faith, something to solidify it for me. Whether it be that little girl playing out there, that knowing what this world has come to, that my daughters are still here with me."

She grinned, Hershel was very dedicated, but even he wasn't so stalwart. "From our perspective, you were very lucky. Having some family left when so many don't have anyone."

"And that makes me even more thankful that I am here with my family." Hershel took one last look around, "I need to go see Rick about some things, I suppose we'll see each other around soon." He turned and left her on the porch, like he said, he went straight to Rick, who caught sight of him and greeted him with a handshake.

Laura stood, a little too fast, her aching joints from her fall in the woods were still noticeable. It wasn't hindering, just a little sore. She shook it off and continued on her way into the farmhouse. In the back of her mind, she felt strange entering, almost like she was an intruder. She remembered all the things she worried about before, her appearance, her history, hoping that people would give her the benefit of the doubt.

Some part of her still felt like a walker entering someone's home in search for food, she still held her hunger in her, the aching need to eat at all times, but it was so dull that she didn't even have to ignore it, it just seemed to come and go.

 _"I haven't left yet_ **."** Laura groaned, rolling her eyes shut. The Voice was getting louder in her head, more frequent, and it's words felt more than just words now. She would be lying if she said that she didn't feel like the Voice was actually becoming part of her consciousness.

 _I figured as much, but I wasn't thinking about you anyways._ She continued on, trying to find something to do helpful around the house. Anything to get her mind off of the Voice that decided to appear again.

" _I want to help you, to give you a better life. This circular existence you lead now is pointless and dull. It's worthless._ " Laura should've known not to think about these things, about being a walker, it seemed to entice the Voice to appear and speak to her more and more.

Laura stopped in the kitchen, " _Don't you even dare..._ " It warned, seeing through her eyes and knowing her thoughts. Laura smiled.

The kitchen was a mess, most likely from dinner and breakfast the Greene's and the group shared. The dishes were piled up, some spices left out, various parts of the kitchen out of order. So Laura opted to clean it up.

" _I can't believe this, you are a thinking, healing walker and you decide to clean a goddamn kitchen..._ " It growled, " _This is the fucking zombie apocalypse and you are doing a twelve-year-old's chores!_ "

 _I am helping, that's all that matters._ Laura was grinning to herself, the Voice didn't like it at all. It's anger and helplessness was entertaining Laura as she started to wash the Greene's dishes. The Voice had to sit there and take it, Laura didn't care, it annoyed her anyways and that's all it ever was to her. She felt more secure with her group then she's ever felt with anybody in her life. The Voice wasn't going to ruin it for her, she just had to deal with it complaining every now and then.

" _I am not helpless._ " It ground out, it felt decidedly more distraught than ever before. Laura felt that discomfort, but didn't mind so much as roll her eyes while piling up some cleaned dishes before moving onto the larger dishes like the Greene's cookware. She rather enjoyed the mindless labor, basic everyday chores. It felt good to do them again. Especially after having worked on firing a crossbow and learning how to find things, kill them, then prepare them to be eaten.

" _I do not have to '_ take it' _."_ Laura giggled a little, it was so angry and Laura finally knew how to get back at it.

" _Do **not** doubt my strength._"

Laura's arm tensed, but she couldn't move it. Frowning, she attempted to bend her fingers, but instead her hand stretched out and she ran her nails down the back of a pan, the screeching noise was quick and sharp. Her eyes went wide, Laura saw the clawed marks on the back of the pan, they were deep considering it was an iron pan.

She had lost control of her arm, she didn't claw the pan, she had no control over her arm. She held it still now, but she had it under control again. She carefully and slowly turned her arm around, inspecting her hand which was relaxed now. Her nails had black iron shredding on them.

" _Do not doubt my graciousness._ "

Laura gulped and set the iron pan down and backed away from the sink.

"Laura?" She spun around, only to see Maggie standing there looking at her with interest. "You okay there?"

She managed a strained smile, "I'm fine Maggie, just got my fingers caught between some pots, kinda' squished them. They're fine though." She held her hand up and wiggled her fingers. Maggie smiled back, "Alright, I thought I heard a loud noise, thought something happened. Thanks for helping out with the kitchen though." She gestured towards the messy kitchen.

"No problem, just figured I should help out some more. I'm usually out getting lessons from Daryl, but sometimes it's nice to take a break with the smaller things." Laura relaxed, she still felt sick to her stomach. "I'll finish up here, then I'm going to go back and practice some more."

Maggie pointed outside, "I'm gonna go take care of the livestock, one of the fences broke and we gotta get out there to fix it. Apparently Dad wants to see if your group can help with stuff like that, so I have to show someone how to do it. Gonna be fun." She said a little sarcastically, laughing to herself. "Checking the fence is probably one of the most boring jobs we have."

Laura imitated Maggie's mood, trying to seem less stressed then she was. "Well, maybe someday I can take that job off your hands. I don't mind extra work."

"Yeah, we got enough to do around this farm as it is." She shrugged, "I better get going, I'll see you around Laura."

She just nodded, "See ya Maggie."

Once Maggie had left her sight, Laura sighed deeply. " _It's okay, don't worry. I'm only ever here to help you._ "

Laura bit her lip. _That day at the barn... With Shane... When I defended myself, that wasn't me was it... It was you._

She could feel the Voice rising to accept the accusation with glee. " _Now how did you come to that conclusion? He was attacking you wasn't he?_ "

Leaning over the island, Laura shook her head, she just knew it. _It didn't feel like something I would do, I mean, I know self-defense, I know how to protect myself. I didn't need to revert to... that. How did you do it? How did you make me think I did it?_

" _It wasn't hard._ " It had an obvious smile in its tone. " _I just made you think what I wanted you to think. I made you believe that it was your only hope, that he'd kill you otherwise. He probably would've done, so I didn't have to do much in that regard. That being said, I did have to give you suggestion to not use your old self-defense courses in order to fight against him._ "

 _But... I didn't even remember them... I couldn't recall anything about them._ Laura was worried, she remembered thinking at the very moment Shane's grip on her throat tightened. She had no memory of them, like they never happened. _I remember them now... The classes were on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 6:30PM... I usually couldn't make the Thursday courses because of work... My teachers were Katherine Banderas and Danny Christopherson. They were really nice people and let me skip the Thursday classes and sometimes the Friday classes because they knew my job was demanding._

" _That's right, you took that course for a good year before moving onto some more advances courses._ " The Voice answered, Laura had only now remembered them. She was so thankful to Kathy and Danny for being so kind about it and never complained about her missing any classes.

 _I had dinner with them... they were almost friends to me... I never took a chance though, I was anti-social. I didn't like being around people... but I wasn't the mouse I thought I was..._ Laura stood up straight, _What else am I not remembering?_

" _Wouldn't you love to know._ " It was taunting her, Laura felt a new feeling come over her.

She wasn't the helpless sap she thought she was. She didn't enjoy too much company, but she had some friends. Kathy and Danny among them. She had been invited to some of their parties... They were married, but they couldn't have children, Kathy had been in a car accident when she was a child. She was invited to the wedding, she went, it was a small affair, close friends and family...

"I was their friend. They were my best friends..." Laura said to herself aloud. "They were great people, they were kind to me and I was almost always around them... But... why didn't I have more friends?"

" _Oh you did. You had quite a few._ " Laura was almost in tears, she couldn't remember her own friends... " _Your father saw to that._ "

 _What._ Laura was dead still. _My father did what._

" _He wasn't as you remember him._ "

 _What do you mean._ Laura demanded. _I want to know. Tell me who he was._

" _You will find out. Just not now._ "

Laura turned around, seeing the pan she scraped in the sink. She began to start again on her chore. The Voice was silent and calm after that. It's power play over her satisfied its needs. Laura was on the verge of crying and tearing something apart. She felt like herself more than she had in a long while... There was something wrong...

She had to think now. Who was her father really? What did she remember of him? How bad was he? Was all she remembered was the best times?... Was he even worse than what she thought she knew about him.

What exactly happened to her, what wasn't she able to remember anymore?

Time flew by, Laura was completely immersed in her thoughts. She couldn't shake her feelings, what the Voice had proven to her. It was worse than she thought. It could control her, it could give her thoughts that weren't her own... but she would believe they were. She was so unsure, was anything she felt the last few months real? What part of this was just the Voice erasing thoughts and memories? What was the Voice changing her opinion of?

Was anything she was thinking about her own?

Laura had finished the kitchen quicker then she thought she was going to. She didn't feel fulfilled, she felt empty and, for the first time in a long while, she felt exhausted to the extent that she just wanted to stop for a while. Stop everything and just ignore the outside world.

She had to go on, there were people out there who wanted her around, that wanted to know she was alright.

There was nothing Laura could do to prove to herself that she was relatively harmless now. What Andrea said about her being dangerous or a risk to the group... It was more of the truth then Andrea ever realized. Laura could very well be a grave threat. They trusted her, let her around their children, into their homes... let her lay with them as they slept away the night.

 _What have I done..._ Laura walked outside the farmhouse. So many things seemed dull now, the group still working to help the Greene family. Maggie in the field with Glenn, T-Dog, and Hershel at a fence where the cows grazed.

Laura felt how cold she truly was... Her body didn't produce heat like the others, she was always so cold, but she never felt it until now. Not to mention her hunger... It was back again, not as strong as it was before, but it was powerful and her eyes rested on the group, as if she was hunting.

She gritted her teeth. She had to get away for a while, she had to get away from them all before she tore herself apart.

As she walked away from the farmhouse, she was stopped by Rick.

Laura didn't want to talk, she was too lost in her own thoughts. It was messing with her something bad, but she didn't want anyone asking questions or telling anyone she hears a voice in her head.

"Laura," She paused and turned to face him, hiding her internal struggles by smiling at him. "Hey Rick, what's up?"

Rick caught up to her, she realized that she was moving rather fast. "I need to talk to you about something." He looked over to the shed then back to Laura. "And feel free to say no, I have no right to ask this, but I feel I have to."

Laura's attention was effectively stolen from her earlier worries. "What is it Rick? Y'know I don't turn anything I can do to help down."

"I know, but this is a little different... perhaps even dangerous." She nodded, "I need help with Randall."

She raised a brow, "Randall? Aren't we releasing him in a few days?" Rick grimaced, "We are, that hasn't changed. With the risk involved, I am a little worried about going out there without knowing how many walkers we'll come across."

 _He wants me to help let Randall go._ Laura concluded rather easily. " _Do it, go with them._ "

Laura was internally growling, she didn't want anything to do with what the Voice wanted. " _Do it._ " It urged her, it was far less friendly than it had been in the past.

"Laura?"

She nodded, "You want me to go with."

He suspected she might not want to go with, knowing that it would be rather risky... and that Shane was going. That much was for certain. Rick had talked to the group about it already and Laura was glad to have a day where Shane wasn't at the farm, to go with them instead?... And the Voice wanted her to go...

Red flags went up everywhere in her head. "Why do you want me though?"

"Because when we get to a place we want to leave him, if it goes without a hitch, we won't need you." He frowned, "But if something happens, if walkers show up, I'm going to need you there. Knowing that just by standing by you that the walkers won't come after us would be a great help."

"Daryl won't like it."

Rick kicked the dirt under his boot, "Yeah, yeah I know." He looked off in the direction of Daryl and Laura's camp. "It's just to be sure, Lori keeps telling me to talk to you about it. She thinks it's too much of a risk for me and Shane. That we'd wander off, mostly that I might get hurt or worse. We know that you can hide us in a group of walkers and they won't notice us, just like Atlanta."

"What about Shane?" Laura asked, the weight of the question had clearly been on Rick's mind before. "I have talked to him, before the barn and after. I think he's getting the picture. He's backing off more and more lately, he's not bothered anyone else and has been working harder around the farm. I know that's not enough security, I intend to have a good talk with him on the way to dropping off Randall. If he tries anything against you... I'll handle it."

Laura had a sad look on her face, she knew what he meant. It was getting so serious with Shane that Rick felt he had to do something drastic to keep peace. Even if it meant stopping his old friend for good, permanently. She just looked down, things were getting so messed up so fast she couldn't keep up with it all anymore.

Laura could help even with Shane in the mix, she could end up saving Rick... subsequently Shane. Rick was well worth that though of course. She just didn't know if she could convince Daryl that it was alright... and there was still the matter of the Voice that was telling her to go.

Was it her agreeing to go? Or was it the Voice suggesting her without her knowing about it again...?

"I get it, you can take all the time you want to answer. You don't have to go, we can do it ourselves. I don't want you to feel like you should." Rick rested a hand on her shoulder, "I don't want you force you to do anything you don't have to Laura."

She smiled gratefully. "It's okay Rick, if I can help, I will." Rick gave her a curious look, "I'll go with you."

He had a very small grin, like he was surprised at her answer. "You never turn down anyone, do you?"

With a big smile, Laura shook her head. "Guess not. When do we leave?"

"I was planning on leaving the day after next, in the morning. It'll have been a week, Hershel said it'd take that long for his leg to heal and for him to walk again. He's shown he can almost walk, still limping, but come time to let him go, he'll be fine." Laura caught sight of Daryl on his way from his tent, coming towards her and Rick.

"I'll tell him, don't worry." He gave her a sympathetic look, "If he's too much to handle on this, just remember, you can still decide not to go."

"Thanks Rick, but it'll be fine. I'll see you later." Rick stepped away from her, "I've got some things to take care of, so just relax until it's time to head out."

The two parted ways and, once turning around to see Daryl crossing the fields, Laura took a deep breath in. She's going to have to be very convincing with him. She would go anyways, no matter what, but she didn't want to cause him any stress over her. He was her greatest life line in this new, strange world. She would show that she can take care of herself though.

Especially since she remembered she can fight, at least, against another human. Somewhat anyways, she still only had parts of her memory of her self-defense courses. She specifically took them because she lived in Atlanta, a very busy, loud city and she walked home from work on late nights.

As far as she knew, she never really had to _use_ her training yet.

"Hey," She greeted a little cautiously, he stopped a little in front of her. "Hey, girl."

"We gotta talk about something..." She didn't want to worry him or make him uncomfortable too fast. He gave her a look, sending a look to Shane in the distance. "No, he didn't do anything."

He looked down, catching sight of her hand, the black iron mixed with some blood from raking her nails down the pan. He didn't know that and instantly grabbed her hand. "What happened to your hand?"

She didn't even notice that the nail was damaged from tearing the pan. "Oh, nothing, just banged my fingers in the kitchen while I was cleaning." She blew it off, she hadn't felt them hurting at all. He bought it easy, there wasn't much anyways, just a small cut under her nails. "What did ya wanna talk about then?"

Laura licked her lips, "Rick came to me today, asked me to go with him..." She gave him a moment to process what that could mean, "... to let Randall go."

"No," He came to an instant decision, "No way."

"I want to go, to help." He gave a very shaky sigh, one of agitation. "With what I can do, how I can help uniquely. I could really help them, if they get stuck in a bad situation, I could even end up saving them." He gave her a look. "Them?"

With a big gulp, she bared her teeth in a frown, "Rick, Shane, and Randall."

"Shane." He spat the name like it was poison to him. She knew that's really the only problem, like she knew before, he wasn't babying her, he just didn't want to risk her health without a very, very good reason or if it was unavoidable. "You wanna go with him there?"

"Look, I don't care about Shane. I really don't care if he dies out there, but Rick... he's my friend and so is Lori and Carl. I don't want them to lose a father because I didn't want to risk a little inconvenience or work. I can really help here, this is one of the reasons I am here." She stepped closer to him, resting a tentative hand on his chest. "I need to help, I know that I'm not the toughest out there, I'm not exactly the best at anything around here, but this is something I can do and no one else can do."

Daryl gave her a stern look, "I know what'cha mean. I know why." He said that about as harshly as he talked about Shane, not because they angered him like Shane did, but because he didn't want to swallow it. "I don't want ya to go."

That was probably harder to say then anything else he's said to her the last few days.

"I know, I just want to help this group, no matter what it takes." She put her arms around him, pulling him into a very careful hug. He didn't really move, his hands were full after all. "This means risking as much as the rest of the group, giving it my all, even if I get a few cuts and bruises in the process. I'll be fine though, where they are going, I'm at my best."

He huffed, "You can nail that bastard anyways," He smirked, "You're tougher than 'im."

"Damn straight I am." She leaned back, releasing him and sending him a thankful smile. "Are you alright with this? I don't want to go if it'll means I'll be causing you too much stress over it."

"I'll be fine, girl." He almost scoffed at her suggestion. "Should stay and protect the group, with Rick and Shane gone, someone's gotta make sure walkers don't stroll up in here and eat 'em all."

She chuckled, "Good idea."

"Gonna go talk to Rick about it though, comin' with?" He asked her, he was overprotective of her before, but after everything cooled down and he let go of that protectiveness a little, he wasn't so caught up on whether or not she's on her own around the farm, or with other people. Aside from Shane of course.

"I think I'm gonna head back to the camp, you caught something I assume?" He nodded, "You can get to work with 'em if ya want, they'll be dinner tonight for the group."

"Then that's what I'll do." She gave him a wink before heading off towards their tent. Daryl was making a direct line to Rick, no doubt to have a rather straight talk about Laura going with Rick and Shane. Daryl wasn't as overprotective as he was before, but he was still going to cover all his bases when it came to her safety. If Shane was involved, he'd cover those bases with force. Rick had shown Daryl that he was going to give Laura the same safety that Daryl would.

So he was more tolerant of the sheriff, still very unfamiliar with him though.

When finally out of sight of them all, Laura felt like she was going to burst into pieces.

The Voice was bothering her, she looked at her hand and there were a few very small cuts on them, iron was a tough metal after all. That was more then any walker could do, she had some kinda of unnatural ability like the walkers, the sounds she could make, the instinctual reaction to certain things, her senses, she wasn't strong, but the Voice could use her body to its best capabilities.

Laura hurried to the small camp area, a few small critters hanging from the lines between the trees, all fresh and ready for preparation.

She got to work, Daryl kept his knife for skinning and gutting at the camp for her occasionally, this time it was on top of the log that they used to sit in front of the fire, when they had one.

She tried to get her mind off of what she'd learned, in hopes of stopping whatever this was from continuing. The Voice wouldn't go away so easily, she knew that. Laura didn't know what she'd forgotten, she didn't know what her memories were anymore. How many things have been taken out of context and used against her?

As if the Voice choice to amuse her and answered a question quickly.

* * *

_Laura was heading home, she hated going home, she hated her house. She was a few days off of her twelfth birthday and she dreaded where she was headed._

_She was made to walk to the nearby pharmacy and pick up things on a list, she'd done this a few times before, but it was never this bad. It was dark, raining, and they lived in the worst place in downtown Atlanta, they weren't able to afford much._

_Soaking to the bone, she carried the bags dutifully, they were heavy and she was rather weak due to her life at home. She wasn't allowed to eat much every day, she knew that they couldn't keep buying a lot, so Laura just thought that it was hard for them to buy enough food for her to eat._

_She worked hard, heading up the road where her home was._

_The first thing she saw was flashing red and blue lights, they were at her apartment building. Laura really didn't want to find out why they were there, people got hurt in the city, in this part especially. Which is another reason she didn't like going out at night, it was dangerous out here and while she hadn't actually been hurt by anyone out in the city at night yet, she was very nervous about everything._

_Laura ignored the cops leaning against one of the police cars and just took the stairs straight up to her level. Her arms and legs were so tired by the time she reached the fourth floor._

_Opening the door, Laura saw the cops on this floor... at her door._

_With a gulp, Laura cautiously approached her apartment. The cops just turned to her, seeing her trying to enter the door. "Hey sweetie." One smiled at her friendly, "Do you live here?" He asked and it made her worried._

_She didn't like to speak to people, it made her mother mad sometimes. So she just nodded, clutching the bags tighter to her._

_"Can we help you with those?" He offered a hand out, but Laura just recoiled slightly and shook her head. The cop's eyes flashed oddly, something she hadn't seen before. "It's okay, we're here to help you. You won't have to worry anymore."_

_Laura blinked blankly, slowly turning to her door which was open and inside were two more cops and a woman in a suit. Her mother was sneering at them, shaking her head and scoffing. She didn't know what was happening, why were these people here? Would her mother blame her when they left?_

_"Excuse me." The cop that had spoken to her in the hall stolen the attention of the three people inside and her mother. "She's here."_

_Laura frowned as everyone's eyes came to rest on her. She was scared, she didn't know what was going on and why they all were so interested in her._

_The woman in the suit smiled softly and carefully came towards Laura, "Hello there," She kneeled down to Laura's level, "My name is Whitney and I'm here to help." She waved one of the cops to her, suggesting them to take the bags away from Laura. "It's okay, you won't need those anymore. In fact, you'll never have to make another run like that ever again."  
_

_Laura perked up at that, "Really?"_

_She nodded, "Really." She held a hand out, "What is your name?"_

_"I'm Laura." She was too nervous still to shake Whitney's hand, she felt even more scared when she noticed the burning eyes of her mother from behind Whitney._

_The woman caught on quickly, giving Laura a glance over, she had all she needed. "Tell you what Laura, why don't you go with these two fine policemen, they're going to take you outside and when we're done here, we'll go get you ice cream. How about that?" She gave her a large smile._

_Laura nodded, "Mmkay."_

_The policemen from the hall led her out of the apartment, Laura could barely see the woman turning back around to her mother before the door was closed and all she heard was her mother yelling._

_She took hold of one of the policeman's hand tightly, scared of the sound she could clearly hear from her mother. Thinking that she had to go back to that and take whatever anger her mother had at these people._

_"Hey, it's okay sweetie. There's a very special person waiting outside for you." He shook her hand a little, trying to reassure her. She was confused, she had no idea what these people were doing around her._

_She was almost twelve, but she hadn't any experience in the world, no real education. She lived in that apartment, rarely ever venturing out her door, knowing that her mother didn't like it. So she knew no one aside from her mother and the kind person as the register at the pharmacy. The only people she ever had any contact with._

_"He can't wait to see you, I promise, you're going to like him." The cop smiled at her, "He's a very good man, he's going to give you a new home, a better one, and a much happier one."_

_Laura had no real idea what he meant, but she wasn't too concerned at the moment as they had just exited the apartment complex and were now standing outside near the cop cars. She looked around for this 'special man' the cop mentioned._

_As quickly as it took to blink, there was a man in front of her. She was alarmed, he had raced up to meet her. She shrank away, never having had so much contact with people, she was scared, but still a curious child who wanted to know everything._

_"Hey honey." He was kneeling in the rain, the cop was now holding an umbrella above them. His pants were getting soaked from kneeling in a puddle, but looking at this man, he might as well have been floating. "Hey there," He held a hand out to her, "Do you remember me?"_

_She gave him a wide frown and shook her head._

_"Well, that's alright." He was beaming at her, he was crying but she didn't know why. "I'm your dad."_ _Laura stared at him, so very lost that she hadn't a clue where to begin. "Yeah, I'm your dad and don't worry, you can come home with me and never have to worry again."_

_He came closer to her and hugged her tightly to her. Laura didn't understand what was in store for her anymore._

_No more old apartment, no more mother, no more late night runs to the pharmacy alone._

_Laura had no idea how her life would change come the next few years living with her father, but as she rode in the cop car, ice cream in her hand, and her father enjoying an ice cream cone with her, she came out of her shell quickly._

* * *

Laura gasped in shock, a very old and forgotten memory rushing back to her.

She didn't know where to begin, she didn't know what was happening. She felt almost sick, she had lived with her mother... Her parents divorced before she was old enough to know how to walk. Her mother had custody of her and Laura knew nothing about her father at all, not until she was in the beginning of her pre-teen years.

" _I know much and you... You know nothing anymore._ "

Laura wasn't even aware she had cried, as if she was experiencing the event over again, but she knew what it meant... at least that part.

Her father came to get her, to save her from that dark apartment in the worst part of the city. She wasn't happy before that, her mother was cruel and cold, she hated her and she completely forgot about it all. Some part of her knew it, there was something she could never see about why she felt things, like her memory of rushing to her father's home... if she hated him... why would she do such a thing?

Laura froze, she tried to remember, in all her memories, the moments where she was hurt by her father... she couldn't see his face. The home she thought they were in... She couldn't see her father's apartment. It was larger than her mother's, it was cleaner of course, and it was cleaned by a maid her father hired.

Her memories were wrong, it wasn't her father she remembered locking her in a closet, neglecting to feed her days at a time, or hitting her.

It was her mother.

 _What did I do... I ran from him... I needed his help, I hated my mother, I loved my father... but I thought..._ Laura was sobbing, she was wrong. Her own thoughts were wrong. She didn't know what part of her memory was right anymore...

" _You had to know again someday._ " The Voice mused to her, " _I kept the truth hidden from you, I did it to protect you. I was there from the beginning. I've shaped your future so far. It's about time you started understanding that I am more a part of you than you ever realized._ "

The Voice... It wasn't a voice anymore. It never was _just_ a voice and Laura knew it now.

It was living, it made decisions for her, it could control her, her thoughts, memories, emotions, and her physical body was at the mercy of this strange instinctual entity inside her head.

" _I am you. I am the part of you that wanted to fight back._ " Laura looked up, she could see Daryl heading back into camp. She didn't want anyone to know, not about this. This would ruin everything. " _I will never leave you, I will always be here; I will do whatever is necessary to keep us, you and me, alive. Even if I have to force you to do it._ "

It faded away, Laura tried to compose herself.

The Voice wasn't just words in her head now and she had to keep this to herself. No one could ever know, this could destroy her, and if it ever threatened the group... She could never risk that, she wanted to live, she had to do something.

She needed time, to think, to process this new information, and to find someway to fix it.

With Daryl nearing, Laura wiped her face dry and restarted on preparing dinner. As if nothing happened, but when he arrived, it was all she could think about.


	33. A Storm Brewing

It was the morning to let Randall go.

Laura knew the man she shared a tent with, Daryl of course, was not excited about it. She was up and ready, just waiting for the sun to break for her to head down to the farmhouse and leave with them.

He had woken up shortly before this though.

She grinned at him, almost sadly. Knowing she was going to cause him a rough day. He knows she can take care of herself, but he wasn't so convinced she was in the right place to do so. She had been stressing over today and he wasn't far behind. Not because of the risk involved, he was actually more worried about what he had noticed about her the last few days.

She vanished into the woods the night before Glenn broke the news of the walkers in the barn, he hadn't a chance to ask her about it.  
Her distance to everyone, he told her he could read her like a book, able to tell when she was troubled or simply had something to think about. He did not usually give it so much thought, as it just appeared as if she's done this fading in and out of her own thoughts often in her life. More like a personal trait rather than a troubling tick.

On the other hand, he'd noticed a distinct change in her in the last week or so. She'd been as smiling and bright as ever before, but she wasn't _with_ the people she was around. She was parting herself from the group and he knew it.

He just did not know why, he was trying to figure it out though.

She had shown apprehensiveness about her condition in the past, various problems associated with her appearance and the strange things that came with it. He was never bothered by her appearance, she looked normal, aside from the blue skin and looking like there was nothing else on her but her skin.

He grimaced, she still didn't look healthy. Blue skin or not, her weight gave him more reason for concern than her skin tone, no matter how unnatural it was.

Regardless of the _blueness_ of her skin, or how little meat she had on her, Daryl still found himself looking at her as she was dressing like any man would look at a woman who was getting undressed in front of them would do.

Daryl glanced over her bad leg, she wasn't so much standing without the brace on as she was just hopping occasionally then sitting down the rest of the time. Her leg was too weak to stand on without the help of the brace.

He could easily see where the damage to her leg had been done though, the area on her leg where she'd broken it was well healed over, almost invisible, but the part where she got hurt when she fell from the horse was another thing entirely. There was a large bruise on her thigh, it had a reddish tint, but was mostly darker blue, black, and purple.

It was strange to think that the red in her bruise made that very specific part of her skin look almost normal. He didn't give it much thought though, he was never really into a lot of women and he definitely didn't spend time with any of them, not like he was doing with Laura since they started to, and he would never dare say it aloud, and would rather kill anyone who got the idea, but they had connected somewhat.

Again, right now, he didn't care about his and her emotional ties at this very moment.

Laura was shimmying her pants off, by doing so, she had stood up, rather shakily, but she made it fine in the end and had bent over, facing away from him and the view was a little _strenuous_. He wasn't into sneaking a look when a woman didn't want to be seen, Daryl didn't invade privacy like that.

But in this small tent, Laura undressing so close to him, showing almost everything she had and even shaking it a little at a few times was not something he could see himself looking away from. She had to have known he'd see something, she had just removed her shirt and was standing in front of him wearing nothing but two pieces of thin underwear.

He wasn't excited about any of this, just watching a woman undress is enough to get Daryl interested, he was just a man after all. Laura was his girl and his alone, she wasn't about to leave for another man, there wasn't any one night stands in this tent; Laura was his and he'd be damned if he wasn't hers.

Still, it didn't help that Laura just removed her bra in front of him and he really, really did not want to look away.

The only part of this that kept Daryl from boiling over was that Laura still looked rather... rainbow-tastic with her amount of bruises. He just wanted to enjoy the moment, watching her as only he could. His eyes would roam over a smooth, unmarred part of her skin, clear areas on her back, waist, neck, legs and arms.

Interruptions only came from the occasional darkened parts of her body, he'd be enticed one moment, then reminded of his protective side the next. He was riddled with two completely opposite parts of the emotional-spectrum and Laura was the catalyst. He wanted to ride her for a second, then he wanted to go on a manhunt within the minute.

Daryl sighed tiredly, _screw it_ , he wasn't going to have her like that anytime soon. She was still too injured, from so many things, he wondered how many more bruises and cuts she could get without just simply falling into pieces. It took so long for her to heal from the most superficial of wounds that Daryl began to believe that her injuries might never go away.

He still had her around, which was good enough for him. There wasn't a normal woman in the world, before all this anyways, that wanted him for more than a night or, if he got lucky, a few weeks. Laura was a new breed for him and, from what she'd told him before, he was the same to her.

The image was worth staring at her like a virgin boy who just got to see a breast for the first time in his life.

That had nothing to do with why he was staring at her right now though. He turned his attention from the aesthetics of her body and onto her distance to everything around her. She was unresponsive, nothing but the most basic of pleasantries, and her normal joking defense. She wasn't her normal self, he knew what she does, Laura was very easy to read for him.

She liked contact, a little weary about it, but she did want it. Laura never seemed to pass by a chance to interact with the group, trying to keep up her own standing in the group. She wanted to be close to people, to everyone, so that she felt a less alone when she was the only one like her out there.

Daryl could tell whenever she was bothered, upset, happy, or angry. That is part of the reason why he was better with her then most other women, they were all confusing and constantly changing their opinions, ideas, and mood too harshly for him too even want to keep up with. Even women he'd been with, the few he was actually with for more than a single night, the ones not so emotional were too off put by his normal person.

The world was different now, people too sensitive for this world died out, and those not strong enough for it were gone too.

Laura was simple, clear as glass, and never had any strange changes in her demeanor. She was always just _Laura_ and he never once got lost when it came to figuring out what she was thinking or doing. He didn't know if anyone else was able to see her so clearly, he couldn't care less, just relieved that he could do it.

Right now, Laura was up, prepared, and had a look on her face that told him her head was busy. Like the last few days, she would stare off into space, her face would only rarely show some kind of reaction to anything, and it was very unnoticeable no matter how sudden it was.

He couldn't do anything about it though, he had to tell her that he knew she was bothered by something to even convince her that she was obvious. She knew she was, but didn't seem to keep the idea at the ready whenever he chose to bring up her staring into nothing.

As much as he didn't like emotional women bullshit, as his brother would put it, Daryl didn't want Laura going out with Rick and Shane being as distracted as she is now.

Ignoring the dull throb of his side, the wound was healing over well now and Daryl felt every last bit of the healing process.

"Laura," He almost sneered, he never said her name anymore. It was always some nickname he'd give her on a whim, none really stuck to her, he just never called her by her name anymore.

Her head jumped up, her straight black hair flying up with it. She seemed alarmed at his intrusion of her thoughts. Laura's strange eyes were completely wide and focused on him now, like a deer who just caught a scent of him.

"Yeah? Hey." She cracked a smile, "Didn't think you'd be up so early... I mean," She chuckled at herself, "You get up early, but this is way early, even for you." She was passing off her thoughts as if they never existed, instead choosing to hide whatever it was on her mind from him.

Laura was an open book, as he'd been contemplating for the last few minutes when he was watching her. Right now though, seeing her change so quickly from her thoughts, which were causing her some trouble, and now smiling at him as if the world had not ended and they all were not trying to survive against an entire world of flesh eating dead people roaming freely.

"Tell me." He was still partly asleep, judging that it was still dark out, Daryl could put together that he had only slept for maybe an hour or two. He woke up fast though, it was a good trait to have when you are expecting walkers to jump out at any moment.

Laura gave this humored, unsure sigh, her focus broken and she stared at her shoes. "I should've figured you'd catch on... You always catch on." She kept her eyes downward, not even glancing his way. "It's nothing really though, just havin' some small concerns about everythin'. Ain't helpin' that you're gonna be out here on your own all day without me watchin' your back."

Daryl ran a hand down his face and yawned tiredly, he was up, he would not be going back to sleep any time soon, but he still felt the effects of a rather restless sleep.

It was as if he had a manual titled Laura and within it was every one of her social cues, her ticks and kinks. She was never well guarded when it came to Daryl's hawk-like vision.

"I said it once, figure I gotta say it again." He could just barely see the sun coming up, she would be leaving soon for the farmhouse. "I can tell when ya ain't tellin' me the truth."

She shrugged, scoffing playfully. She was not going to take it seriously, Daryl could see that she would be avoiding this more than anything else he's called her out on. Anytime he mentioned her holding out once, she caved instantly.

Laura was not good at keeping secrets. At least, not her own.

To her credit, and his chagrin, she wasn't going to give way on this one. "Well, sorry, I'm not that deep." She gave him a wink before standing up, "I have to get down to the farmhouse, Rick wants to head out immediately after breakfast." She leaned in and gave him a kiss, only for a second, before leaving the tent. Daryl was a little tired, and fumbled about how close she was really getting to him.

A thought for a later time.

Right now Laura was on her way to the farmhouse to share a quick breakfast with the group before heading out with Rick and Shane to drop Randall off.  
Out of everyone Daryl didn't want Laura around, the two he hated the most were going to be alone with her and Rick. He couldn't go, he knew that, the farm needed someone to defend them if something happens

Daryl did not want to protect these people anymore, tired of the many trespasses that Daryl would have killed a person for, under Rick's leadership, they got away with little more than a slap on the wrist and he could not stand it.

 _Randall_ , there was trash that Daryl really did not want Laura going near.

He may not know much about Laura's _trauma,_ he could understand bad parenting, neglect, and a poor childhood; he had no experience in the field of having someone who survived being turned into a walker and it bugged him relentlessly.

Laura was learning something new, a new way to survive any situation, a new way to live, a new experience no one ever had in history. No matter what Daryl did, there was not a thing he could do to help with that struggle.

He could deal with childhood, abusive parents, neglect, anti-social, and outcast kind of situations. Her father, he wish he could meet, he had a few things to say to the man that turned her into what she is now. Neither alive nor dead, but not really in between either; if ever there was another specie of human, Laura was it. Only she hadn't the fortune to be born exotic or mixed heritage, she was something far far different.

Not to mention the men she had a run in with in Atlanta.

Daryl wasn't going to touch on that, worried he might actually shoot someone.

The group she was with before, with whom she remained safely for a while until being revealed as what she is now. Daryl could get it, he probably would've done the same, or have even shot her the moment he saw her instead of taking her 'outback' to be put down. He couldn't see himself doing that now by any means, unless she actually turned.

So far, he hadn't seen any signs of her turning into a walker, she only looked a little like a walker.

He didn't see so much of 'walker' in her appearance as he did a woman who was standing in the cold and rain a little too long...  
Even if she was in the smoldering hot Georgia heat, dry as a bone.

Getting dressed quickly, he swung his crossbow over his shoulder, checked for his usual tools; hunting knife, crossbow bolts, and a rag or two, just in case things get messy. It did before and he hated walking around with walker blood all over him, he didn't care for getting dirty, just didn't want it on his face. That was just plain risky.

When Daryl exited the tent, he saw Laura already on her way down to the farmhouse, crossing the fields and following their usual path alongside a fence line. Neither of the fields were being used right now, the grass had reached too high for grazing, it was a tall grass forest around them. He could only see Laura's head above the golden overgrowth.

She was so lost in her head, something was going on and she wasn't saying anything. He could see when she wasn't too hard to break through, just a quick prod and she would tell him anything he asked her. On the other hand, this thing was different, at least she acted different about it. Adamant about avoiding this big, distracting _thing_ on her mind no matter what he asked or how.

She wasn't giving this one up for a while and he wasn't the type to harass someone about their personal feelings. He preferred to just ignore it and if she wanted to talk, she would. Otherwise, he's fine with acting like it wasn't there just as she was.

Only... Right now, she was leaving with Rick, Shane, and Randall. A dangerous place to be distracted.

He wasn't joining the group for breakfast, he is self supporting, he had his in his camp already. Laura made her choice to go with them, to help them, and, while he didn't agree or like it, she was going anyways.

Daryl knew that saying no to it wouldn't change anything, she was going and watching over her like she needed him to survive twenty-four seven could actually come around to bite him; she may come to expect it from him and she really could need him for all survival as she may not know how to do so if he ends up dead.

Still an option he hadn't given a lot of thought to. Being cured like Laura, like Sophia, if he died from a bite and turned.

Would he really want to be like Laura is?

He huffed to himself, sitting down to his camp fire, ready to cook rabbit he hunted the night before. Laura had skinned and gutted it during the night for him, remembering that when he had something left over, a kill he made and brought back, he did that if he intended to have it for breakfast. It was a habit he made, to make sure he never got rusty and if there was an emergency, he wouldn't starve.

Laura had prepared it for him, because she never slept and still cared about him enough to try and do some things for him.

Still confused him, but he wasn't hung up over it. Daryl got over that idea almost immediately, it was new, but it wasn't unheard of. He chose to accept it when he took her with him in his tent and kept her close.

By the time he cooked his breakfast and started eating, he could see Shane coming out from around the corner of the farmhouse with Randall in tow. Daryl couldn't see what binds were on him, but he could see a sack over his head. They went to the car where Rick and Laura were standing, Rick was doing something Daryl couldn't make out and Laura opened the trunk, ready to load Randall in and go.

In light of what he knew about Laura, Daryl knew she could handle herself. She survived many situations before and she could do it again, without him around and she can continue doing so.

He didn't need to be there for her all the time, just occasionally when she really, truly needed him. He'd be there, but her choices were hers and while he may not like some of them, he was there with her, for her, not to keep her hidden away from the dangers she already knew about and the ones she'd faced.

As of this moment, the only thing he could do is wait to see if she made it back and if she didn't, take care of whoever's fault it is.

* * *

At the farmhouse, Laura was standing with Rick, getting ready to leave with Shane and Randall.

The group came around them, waiting to say their goodbyes and best wishes. Even the Greene family was there.  
Laura didn't expect Daryl to come see her off, he wasn't _that_ affectionate. He already gave her his concerns and it was a quick decision, Laura was going and Daryl couldn't change that.

 _We're going, perhaps even grab a snack there._ Laura frowned at the Voice, it wasn't going to make this easy. She was going to support Rick, help him when he needed her. They never asked for much, most never came to her asking for help or someone to talk to. Laura never thought they'd reach that level of comfort with her, but she was going to try.

That meant when Rick asked for her help, she would give it the best she possibly could.

Shane was handling Randall in the trunk, he had a blindfold on, and they had borrowed someone's little mp3 player, hoping to deafen the kid to what's going on around him. It was an attempt at anonymity for the people and the location. It would work, Laura had no doubts the kid couldn't get them off as Shane taped them to his ears and knotted the blindfold.

"Are you sure about this?" Rick brought her out of her thoughts. Looking towards him, he stood with a hand resting on the gun in his holster, as safety and intimidation from when the kid didn't have the blindfold on.

Laura nodded, "Pretty sure." She gave him a reassuring smile, but kept her main focus on the trunk when Shane finished, he shut the trunk and leaned against it.

"It's alright if you don't want to go, I won't be mad if you decide not to." Rick was offering her a way out, but she had already agreed to it and was quite adamant about it. This is one of the few things she could give them and she would give them her all. Turning back now... was not acceptable for her.

Shaking her head, Laura rested a hand on Rick's arm. "It's okay Rick, I can do this. I want to do this." He grinned back at her, "You came to me asking for help, I wouldn't ever turn you down. I want to help and I can help."

"Alright," He chuckled a little, "But once we get on the road, no rest stops and no turning back. Might wanna tell Daryl that we're leaving now." He was smiling at her, despite the severity of the situation, Rick was trying to make a joke.

Laura glared playfully at Rick, "Daryl knows I'm leaving, he prefers long distance relationships sometimes. This is one of those times."

Rick cracked a wide grin, "We best get on the road then, don't want to waste daylight here."

With that, Rick stepped forward and nodded to Shane, who went around to get in the passenger side of the car. Rick was joined by Lori and Carl before heading to the driver's seat.

The rest of the group mostly stayed back, but what surprised Laura is that she had visitors too. She had expected to get in a go, not to have people wishing her a safe trip. It was a little strange for her, but it made her feel just that much more important and thought of.

"Hey Laura," It was practically the whole group, Glenn, T-Dog, Carol, Sophia, Andrea, all there to wish her well. They thought the same for Rick and Shane, but Rick had farewells with his family and Shane didn't like to socialize anymore.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She was still surprised, but wanted to say her goodbyes.

T-Dog patted her on the shoulder, "Just came to say be careful out there, I would know." He gestured to the cut on his wrist that had nearly killed him before. Laura looked at him sympathetically, from what she knew it still hurt pretty bad. "I will T-Dog, no worries, it's more like Rick and Shane y'all should be worried about."

"We are," Andrea spoke up, "But Rick's already getting a lecture in safety." She looked at Rick, who was getting a good talking to by Lori, who looked extremely concerned. With reason though of course, but Laura still smiled at the sight of the couple so scared of losing one another, the sentiment wasn't lost on the group either.

Sophia came up to Laura, giving her a hug. "I don't w-want you to go, Laura." Laura kneeled down and returned the hug, "I will be back before you know it, Soph, don't worry about me. Just keep your momma safe, she'll need you." Sophia smiled and released from the hug right as Carol came up.

"We just want you to be okay, come back to us, in one piece, will you?" Carol gave a sad smile, "And stay safe out there."

Laura reached over to Carol, hugging her with one arm. "I'll be fine, I survived in a walker infested city for weeks and I can make one more day." She giggled, letting Carol go.

"We know, just..." Glenn looked over to Shane through the car's windows. "... Keep in mind who you're going with."

Laura didn't miss the look Andrea gave Glenn, but it went away quickly, replaced by an understanding. "Yeah, I think you'll be alright with Rick there though. It should be easy in and out."

Laura nodded, "I hope we'll make it back before dark, I really don't want them to get caught out there in the dark." She shrugged, thinking about Rick and Shane surrounded by walkers in the dark. It wasn't a good idea, even if they did have a car.

"Good idea to rush it too, don't want that kid getting a handle on where we are. In case... y'know." T-Dog bit his lip, "But I suppose that's what the blindfold is for."

"Safety first." Laura mused aloud. "It'll be okay though, we'll make it back, no problem." She gave them all a bright, confident smile. They didn't have to worry about her, Rick, and Shane, they'd have enough to think about.

"Laura." She heard her name being called, it was Rick. Lori and Carl walking back to the group who was with Laura. "Time to go." She nodded, turning back around to the group.

"Oh hey," Glenn held up a backpack in his hand, "Take this. Rick said you may go and look around for something while you're out. Figured you might get some use out of it."

Laura took it and put it on, tightening the straps around her shoulders. "Thanks Glenn, I dunno if we are, but it could help out a lot." She leaned forward and gave him a hug, "I'll be sure to bring it back to you."

"You better, I've been using that since Atlanta, I love that bag." Laura smiled at his joke, giving him a pat on the back before letting go.

"I'll see you guys later," She gave T-Dog and Andrea a final goodbye hug. As she passed Lori and Carl on the way to the car, she waved and smiled at them. Trying to give them all assurance that they'd return, safe and sound. Laura wasn't too sure how the trip would go, but the plan Rick told her was very simple, a quick stop, drop, and run. Complications may arise, as they always do, but it couldn't be too bad. Laura would be making the final delivery of Randall.

Laura popped the door open, climbed in, and locked it behind her. She sat in the back, driver's side; even if she had to be in close quarters with Shane, she still would prefer to be as far as she could be.

Rick already had the car started and ready to go. They pulled away from the farmhouse and began following the long dirt road to the main road. It had been a long while since she had ridden in a car. The last time was the car that her dad tried to take her away in.

 _He wasn't trying to take you forcefully..._ The Voice came up again, Laura rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for dealing with it, especially while in a car with Rick, her close friend, and Shane, the one person willing to actually kill her because of what she was before.

 _You still are a walker, at heart._ Laura sighed lowly, kicking her feet up across the seats. " _I don't want to hear it. I'm done with you._ "

The Voice cackled in her ears, it sounded dark and almost sickly. _I'm not done yet, dearest._ Laura ran a hand through her hair, " _Stop calling me that._ " _  
_

Willingly, the Voice accepted her request. _I don't mind, I'm just trying to let you know who I am. What I want to do with you and why it's only best for you. By extension, me. However, everything I ask you to do will only lead to your benefit. In the end result anyways._

" _How would attacking and cannibalizing my friends benefit me in the end? I want them around me, I want them here, and I do not eat people._ " She shuddered at the thought, the images the Voice had given her before still were in her head. Vivid and disturbing. _  
_

 _This trip... it will help you._ The Voice spoke vaguely, Laura wanted answers from the Voice, but all she ever got were more questions. This was a perfect example. " _How will it help me? What do you know what will happen?_ "

Her arms were crossed as she had gotten comfortable from earlier, but her fingers tapped of their own freewill. Laura glanced around the car, no one was looking at her as she tried to regain control of her hands. The Voice stopped before Laura tried too hard though. _I can make things happen. Or rather... I can make you make things happen._

" _No,_ " Laura hadn't forgotten this ability the Voice held over her, but she didn't want it to show on the trip." _Just leave it alone and let me be. I won't do anything for you._ "

 _You don't really have a choice, do you? You wouldn't take my generosity earlier, wouldn't listen to me, just ignored me and swatted me away like a fly. Since you wouldn't take my advice before, I'll have to make you do what I ask of you._ Laura flexed her hands, trying to keep herself. Mentally cursing herself for going on this trip, if the Voice wanted to do anything, Laura wouldn't have a choice.

She would fight as best as she could, but there wasn't much she was able to do when the Voice controlled her before, but she'd only taken a small part of Laura, not her entire body for use. She didn't know what would happen, but she was here for a reason, to help the person who saw passed her walker appearance. Rick looked beyond that and gave her a chance, because of that she has people around her who actually like her, care for her.

Nothing was going to ruin that, at least, not without the toughest fight Laura could muster.

 _There's not a thing you can do about this,_ The Voice chided, _I can take control of you when I want and you cannot resist me._

" _No one can just... do something like that. I bet it'll be as much of a struggle for you as it is for me. I won't hurt anyone. I'm not a monster._ " Laura frowned tightly, she didn't know for sure if she could resist the Voice in her head, the feeling of being controlled by it came so smoothly that Laura couldn't even feel it until she tried to resist. There was no pain, no sensations, it came without her knowing and could fade away just as numbly.

 _Apparently,_ The Voice was laughing darkly, _I have news for you. You were born normal and raised as such. That part of you, your normal, average, human part of you died the moment you were bitten. You are not human anymore, you are a monster. To them, that is all you will ever be. They tolerate you now, because they can use you. They want your unique ability, but you are more of the walkers they use you against than you are one of them._ Laura's hands tightened to fists, the Voice became louder and louder as it continued. _You are not one of them, you will never be one of them. You are a walker, a flesh eating monster that destroyed their world._

" _I'm not, I haven't hurt anyone._ " Laura ground out, but even her thoughts seemed quiet and small compared to the booming ideas of the Voice.

 _You will, soon, and they will know you for what you really are._ It was enthusiastic, speaking louder, angrier, and with gradually more force. _They are survivors, they lived through the beginning, but they won't survive you._

The car came to a stop. Laura's eyes shot open when a car door opened, alarmed and panting. Laura felt jumpy, terrified. The Voice went away, for now, but she hoped no one could catch on to her internal struggles. She had no idea how this all worked, it was new and frightening.

All she saw was the car at an intersection, Rick and Shane had gotten out of the car and were now talking. Laura couldn't hear them, but she was about to make a move to get out when Rick looked her way, giving her a look that told her to stay where she was. So she waited, they were obviously having a very dire discussion about something, but Laura never learned how to read lips.

Watching the two talk was like trying to bet on who was going to punch who first. Rick looked ready to jump and Shane was no less tense. The two men's heated conversation seemed to come to a halt eventually.

With that, Rick started heading back to the car, only to be stopped when Shane spoke up again. All Laura could hear was his voice, but couldn't make out any real words. Whatever it was, it meant something important to the two men.

When Shane was finished, Rick looked back at him for a moment, and began heading around the car and Shane followed him. The trunk popped open and Laura figured they were just checking on Randall now, seeing if he was either still alive or trying to get free. The ropes on him were pretty tight though, Laura may not like or trust Shane, but she still didn't think any less of him when it came to doing his job right.

The trunk slammed shut and the two were back in the car, closed the doors, and off again. The car was still dead silent, whatever their talk was about, it definitely wasn't about opening up. She was sure neither of them would utter a word without a good enough reason.

Laura knew better than to initiate a conversation with the two of them. Rick would be fine, would talk to her freely, but Shane... She didn't want to risk making him angry on this trip. It was dangerous out here, they didn't need a pissed off ex-cop survivor trying to bully his way to the top again.

However, Rick found something important enough to bring up.

"We gotta start using our knives more." Laura blinked, it came out of no where, but she understood what he meant immediately. When they were in Atlanta, the only problem they really had was the gunshots. It attracted a horde and put them all in an extremely bad situation. Walkers followed their senses, smell, taste, and when they still had eyes, their sight. "If there's one walker we use our knives. Keep things quiet, save ammunition."

Laura was all for that, she hadn't really handled a gun for a while. Not since back when in Atlanta, with the Vatos. She could use a crossbow now, not expertly, but enough to kill a walker that came at them. They only had one crossbow anyways and Daryl is an expert with it. She needed to carry more weapons, she didn't have anything on her right now either.

Shane didn't seem particularly focused, but he did mumble an answer.

"We need dried goods, ahead of the winter. Warm clothes. Fuel." Rick glanced to Shane, but kept a very neutral and tense tone. Shane was not very talkative right now though, he was listening though. "Maybe we get a break. You gotta think the cold affects them. If it doesn't kill 'em, it's gotta slow 'em down."

Laura hadn't thought about the cold, what it does normally to humans in general can be bad enough. Achy joints, getting sick, hypothermia, just anything if they didn't have a way to warm up enough.

"Second week of January last year, we got all that snow an' ice. My cousin got stuck on eighty-five for twenty-four hours. Sittin' in the car with a birthday cake for his girlfriend at Georgia Tech." Laura grinned, she didn't get any snow in Atlanta though, but it sounded fun. "He just sat and ate birthday cake listening to the Lord of the Rings book on tape."

Shane was still silent, staring out the window. Laura didn't want to speak up with Shane around, it was more for insurance and protection than fear. "We get lucky it'll be the same winter as last year. By December... it's a different world. Safer." Laura felt like that was a long shot. The military couldn't deal with the walkers, she didn't believe enough snow or ice could either.

"Maybe we find some snow mobiles to make runs." Rick was clearly trying to stretch a hand out to Shane, let them be friends again. Laura guessed that could've been what they were talking about. "Sounds good." Shane wasn't going to take it though, he wanted to sit in silence and Rick wasn't about to force him to talk.

The car fell dead silent again, just like it was before. Rick was giving Shane space after their talk and Shane wasn't going to bother Rick or Laura, for which she was rather thankful of. She didn't want to know what Shane had to say about her anymore, it was tough enough just dealing with his occasional glare in her direction at the farmhouse.

Laura liked the company though, Daryl was just the kind of person she wanted to be around too. Quiet, but when talking had something to say and was honest. She knew Rick was almost the same way, if not had a much softer approach to things. Regardless of Shane being there, she was excited to help, even though she wished this risk never came to them.

This world was so full of dangers. Countless problems unseen, threats unknown to them and her. Laura was considerably safer, but she did care about them greatly and wanted the world to be right again. Give them a life, rather than making them run for theirs.

Of course, this is all obvious stuff that Laura's bouncing around in her head because she's sitting in the back of the car bored out of her mind. She knows she should be worried about the walkers out there, where they're going, what could happen, and the Voice plotting something for her. It's all worthy to think about, but there's nothing that can be done. Musing on what could happen, what may happen, and what she may or may not do won't help anything.

She'll be ready to face whatever comes next, Laura knew she can handle all of this. She just had to sit and wait for Rick to pick out a place.

Laura's attention was brought back to reality when Shane moved to look at Rick. This was more than Shane had done since he'd gotten back in the car. He was glancing between Rick and something else, but Laura wasn't a part of whatever they had spoken about, so she didn't know what was going on anymore than Randall did.

"There's more than eighteen." Shane finally said something with interest. Rick nodded, looking around outside the car. "Yeah, I'm looking for a place." Shane looked inquisitive, "A place for what?"

"Give him a fair shake, a shot." Rick didn't want to let Randall go just anywhere, he wanted to give him somewhere relatively safe. He was trying to be considerate and humane about it all. Laura didn't know if there was anything really humane that could be done, but if there was, this is the best it was going to get.

They continued on for a few more minutes before something caught Rick's eye. "There." Laura turned around to look out the window, seeing a sign as they turned in. Mert County Department of Public Works, it was part car graveyard from what she could see.

Rick parked the car in the open and they all stepped out, Laura preferring to stick to whichever side of Rick was furthest away from Shane. In her mind Rick was a barrier between her and someone who would kill her.

"This'll do. We'll leave the boy here, scavenge some supplies." Rick seemed satisfied with this area. Shane was watching their back, trying to keep an eye out for walkers.

" _Psst,_ " Rick got Shane's attention quickly, "Over there."

A walker had appeared from behind an old car, it was heading their way. The fence made that only a minor trouble, the walker could be taken down quickly with no immediate threat posed. Shane had his gun in his hand, checking to make sure the safety was off. He aimed it to the walker slowly limping his way to them. Rick caught this and raised a hand to stop him, "Wait."

Shane lowered his pistol hesitantly. "Like I said," Rick pulled out a blade from his pocket and cut his finger, Laura looked a little confused but Rick had his plans. He ran his bleeding finger over the fence and the walker came to it like a magnet.

When the walker was close enough, Rick positioned the blade and forced it through the walker's skull. The walker fell dead, permanently this time, and Laura grinned at Rick's ingenuity. Walkers are attracted to the smell of fresh blood, it had a particular scent, one that Laura picked up rather quickly and found herself thinking about nothing but it.

 _You can smell it... that's the smell from inside of them. It's strong enough to taste._ The Voice asserted itself again, _If you think that smells good, you should wait until we cut them open. They taste better than they smell._

Laura gulped, she was feeling hungrier. She shook her head and took a deep breath, " _I'm no more hungry than usual. I'll just get some fruits from the farmhouse when we get back. I already ate breakfast, it should hold me over until then._ "

 _It would if that was the kind of hunger you felt._ Laura watched Rick gesture to another walker on it's way to them. Shane took out his blade and followed Rick's example. The smell of even the smallest amount of fresh blood was intoxicating. _You'd be kidding yourself if you think that this hunger is the same they feel._

She ignored it, this wasn't a part of her she wanted to acknowledge, not until she could control it.

Rick noticed the fence was locked, it was a heavy chain wrapped around the gates with a rather large lock on it. They didn't want to make noise so they'd have to find a way to open it up. Lucky for them, Shane had searched around the fence and a nearby booth for something to open the gate with. He came back with a large pair of bolt cutters which fit the job perfectly.

Enough force behind it and they were through.

Shane watched their back while Rick took point, Laura between the two of them as she had no weapons on her, but was the least likely to get attacked.

They made their way inside the fenced in area, there were a few small buildings around. Rick headed straight for the largest one, trying to get a look around and see if there was anything worth taking back to the farmhouse. So far, it was all piles of cardboard, old empty cans, torn of bits of metal and brick. Not to mention the amount of old, broken down cars that had met the end of their life long before the walkers ever appeared.

As Rick went down a small hill to investigate a pile of burnt corpses, Shane parted from them and went to look into the large school bus nearby.

Laura went her own way too, opting to look inside one of the smaller buildings as the door had been knocked in by something large. Inside was about as much as someone could expect from them. A lot of shelves filled with a lot of junk that wouldn't help them one bit. Some pieces of material, quilts, sheets, blankets, all rather old and torn apart, some stained with blood.

She was more interested in getting a way to defend herself, as she knew that walkers weren't a problem for her, they were a problem for Rick and Shane. She also wanted some way to protect herself in case someone decided they didn't like her. Either it be Shane or another survivor, she'd come across plenty before, it wasn't a stretch to believe that there may be someone out there alive.

No matter what, she needed protection. She knew Rick would protect her, Shane would only because of Rick. That wasn't enough for her though, in case things went sour, Laura had to have something she could use.

Now that she could remember her self defense classes and after being taught how to fight for herself, Laura only needed a weapon to even the odds with another armed person. She could utilize her training though, but in a fight against someone like Shane, she wouldn't stand a chance. He knew how to fight, _really_ fight, she only knew how to defend herself.

All well and good until the person you have to defend yourself against is a very well trained cop who has used his professional and, sometimes, lethal training in action before. While her only experience was in class... on Saturdays, sometimes Fridays.

Laura searched around in the dark, knowing only she could find something in these pitch black buildings. Windows boarded up, no other light source available. She could scavenge these places for things that just fell through the cracks.

So far all she'd found was trash, torn up trash, and burnt trash. It was becoming a running theme of this place.

Clearing some shelves of this tiresome trash, she finally found something. It was a small hiding spot, clearly people had attempted to survive here. There were blankets splayed out all around, the old metal shelves were positioned to create a kind of wall, and a few old boxes had appeared to have stored food or some other kinds of goods, but it seemed all the cans were empty.

The stench of a rotting corpse hit her fast, the rest of the place didn't smell so great, but this was a strong odor. Whomever tried to survive here, died here.

Lo and behold, on the far side of the small makeshift camp was the body of what Laura assumed was the person who set this place up. It was long unrecognizable, definitely not a walker. This body never turned, it died and stayed that way. She thought it was rather lucky, but this body was decompressed, a hole had been blown through. Beside the body was a gun, a small, destroyed book that Laura could make out the title on the front. _Journal._

She tried to flip through the pages, most of it was stained with blood or some other strange things. Pages had been torn out or torn apart, but some of it was legible. Laura sighed, this person committed suicide, unable to deal with the world around him or her. Laura couldn't tell gender by looking at the body. It hadn't been dead too long, but some walkers might have reached the body and ate the rest of it.

She tucked the journal into the waist of her jeans and took the gun. She knew how to work a gun, she'd seen some things about it and even handled a gun once or twice with the intent to use it. She popped out the clip and checked the ammo, it had about four shots left, and one in the chamber. It was enough to keep her safe.

Learning from previous experiences, Laura turned the safety on and made sure it was safe on her waist too. She didn't want to risk shooting herself in the leg.

Searching around some more, Laura found some cans that were unopened. This person killed him or herself before actually running out of food, which was lucky for them. Collecting the few cans around, she checked their labels. Thankfully, it wasn't all that long ago that walkers came around, the food inside was still good.

Laura slipped the backpack off her back and unzipped it, shoving what valuable things she could find inside. There were only about six cans of green peas, beans, and a few large cans of chicken and dumplings. They were all still edible, any food that was still good was welcome. They didn't want to stress the Greene's farm for food too much.

She ducked into the little bedding area this person made, pulling up a perfectly fine wool sheet that was stored away. It hadn't been cold enough to use it, this person kept it stuffed away in a corner so it was relatively untouched, save for the dust covering everything.

As she pulled up the piles of bedding, she felt a long, flat object underneath the head of the makeshift bed. Backing up, she pulled it out from under the old quilts. It was a leather casing for a bladed weapon, something to use silently like Rick said. Laura grinned, this was the sheath for it, but if this person kept the sheath so close, she wondered if the actual weapon that belongs in it was still around.

Laura began moving everything, finding a few bits here or there to stuff in the bag. A flashlight, some batteries, a small can of preserved peaches, and a small switch blade with everything from a bottle opener to a small dull knife.

So far though, no blade that belonged in the sheath she found.

Widening her range, Laura began to search all around the survivor's camp. There was an old radio, but it didn't look like it even worked anymore. Half of it was smashed in. Some broken glass on the floor, more boxes full of junk or nothing at all. One had clothing stored inside and Laura took a look inside, hoping to find winter clothes like Rick said.

A few old shirts, most couldn't be worn anymore as they either had holes in them or were ruined by other methods of blood, filth, or something unidentifiable. Laura did find some jackets inside. Triumphant, Laura found a jacket she could wear too. She wasn't susceptible to the cold though, as far as she knew. She was always cold anyways, only the sun or another person could raise her body temperature.

Sighing, Laura thought it best that these go to the group back at the farm. She didn't need to keep warm to stay alive, even though she did prefer to wear a hooded jacket. They needed them while she just wanted some kind of way to hide during the day. So she stuffed them all in her pack and moved on.

The backpack was getting heavier, but it wasn't full just yet. Laura wanted to find that blade, whatever it was that fit into the sheath.

There was another spot of bedding a little bit further back, it was hidden behind the first one, but Laura didn't like what she saw. It was smaller because it wasn't an adult. There was a human body torn up inside, but it was too small to have been beyond teen years.

Laura bit her lip, she knew why the other survivor here must've committed suicide now. This younger one could've been their child, relative, or just someone they watched over. This child died an it was mostly a skeleton now, walkers got to it as there wasn't much left and the other body had more dead flesh on it. Right beside it was the blade she was looking for though, it had been cutting through the cardboard box near it, the child's arm was pointing towards it, suggesting the kid tried to reach for it.

Carefully, Laura pulled the blade out, it was a machete that was still in decent condition. The blade edge was rather sharp, enough to kill a walker or a person if she had to.

She was done here though, in a dark way, Laura would've preferred it if the adult who killed themselves did so out of fear of the walkers rather than losing a child to them.

Laura made a beeline for the exit, she had somethings worth their own value. She was able to sheath the machete and stuff it in the backpack, only the handle of it stuck out of the mouth. Rick may like what she'd found, but she had to find out where they went first.

Exiting the building, Laura took a look around for them. She hurried too, she didn't want Rick to think she'd wandered off too far and got lost, like when she went to chase after him and Sophia. She admitted to herself that was rather embarrassing.

As Laura was about to make her way to the car, she caught sight of Rick around the corner of a large industrial vehicle. She didn't know what it was, but she knew Rick was there and that's all she cared about.

Jogging up to Rick, she slowed down and announced herself, hoping not to scare them. "Hey Rick." He spun around, seeing her approach. "Hey yourself."

"I went into that building nearby to look for stuff, hope you don't mind." He shook his head, "I saw you go in, honestly was about to tell you not to before I realized that even if there were walkers inside, you'd be fine." He gave her an almost shy grin, "Sometimes I forget."

She smiled, "I just wanted to see what was around. I found some stuff, not a lot, but every bit counts I guess." Rick glanced up to see the handle of a weapon from the backpack. "I can see that, what did you find?"

With a shrug, she leaned against the large truck. "Some canned food, not even hit their expiration date and all unopened. Found some coats and jackets to keep warm, a warm blanket, just some basics."

He gave her a sure nod, before catching a glimpse of the gun at her waist. He raised a brow and looked at her. Laura pulled it out, "I turned the safety on, there's five shots left. I didn't find any more ammo or weapons in there. This is all I got. I'd like to keep it if you don't mind, you all got a gun out here but I don't. Mind you, I won't use it unless I absolutely have to. That's why I found this machete."

She holstered the gun in her waist again and unsheathed the machete. "It's actually alright, pretty sharp... Sharp enough to fight back which is all that matters. This I would really, really like to keep. I can give up the gun, but I want this." Laura wouldn't lie, she did like having a weapon of some form, the gun was alright, but having a silent and relatively powerful blade in her hands. She didn't want to give it up.

Rick almost laughed at her excitement, she'd been in camp for so long, cooped up, that he didn't realize that she enjoyed being out of the camp so much. She wasn't in danger here, he understood that, even though he did forget about it as he said. She seemed more confident than she had been to him before though. "That's fine, so long as you know that once we get back we have to give up our guns."

"Hershel still enforcing the no gun law on us?" Laura was just curious, she would give them up without a fight.

He winced, "Not really, not after the barn and the bar, but I would like not to push our luck. Try to show him that we can still be friendly and that we'd do as he asks even without him trying to force it on us."

She ran a hand through her hair, "Well, I've gotten so attached to it already, if you really want it... I guess I could give it up." She laughed, earning her an amused smile from Rick.

"Hey Rick," Shane called him, he was looking over two dead bodies in uniforms. The two walkers they killed entering this place, they had dragged them to the side of the asphalt.

As Rick came over, Shane removed the belts with gun holsters and radios on them.

"I don't see any bites." Shane looked them over, checking for any areas for a bite wound to hide. He wasn't satisfied, the bodies were virtually unmarred.

Rick stood over the other dead officer, "Must be scratches then. This ones hand," He pointed to the bloodied hand, "The other ones cheek. They had walkers here, burnt bodies down the hill."

Shane took a last look over the bodies, "Guess it's gotta be scratches then."

As Shane finished with the dead walkers, Laura helped Rick carry the gas cans back to the car. Most of the vehicles didn't have any gas in them, Rick and Shane had already gotten all they could. With all the gas they could retrieve, when they reached the car, they loaded up the cans in the back.

The gate was on wheels, it could be moved back and forth easily. Rick moved it back a ways, there would be enough room to get the car through. "Shane, take the car into the clearing in between those two buildings over there," Rick pointed to the building Laura came out of and the largest building that they hadn't gone in at all.

Shane nodded and headed to the car. Rick rolled the gate open enough to let Shane drive the car in. Laura stood on the side lines, her gun holstered, but her machete out and ready to cover their backs.

When the car was in, Rick shut the gate and rejoined Laura. He gestured her to follow him, she was going to anyways. She watched his back much like Shane did earlier, she was trying to be more tactically minded since she was with living people whom the walkers hunted. Watching over them since she didn't have to have anyone watching her back was good security, so long as she taught herself to keep on a strict look out.

They came up on the car, Shane was just stepping out as Rick popped open the trunk. Removing the sack from Randall's head, he tried to speak up, but the duct tape made that impossible.

Laura stayed back as they dragged him out of the car. She didn't want walkers sneaking up on them while they dealt with Randall.

After a little walk, they stopped with Randall between another school bus and a firetruck. They kneeled Randall down, he was stumbling on the way there so much that Laura thought he might just fall over if he tried to stand on his own.

Rick removed the duct tape and the mp3 player, he nodded to her and tossed away the duct tape, but handed her the mp3 player. She stuffed it in her pocket, it belonged to somebody back at camp. They would probably want it back.

"The hell is this?" She heard Randall speak for the first time, he looked around at the dead cars and old buildings. His feet and hands were still bound though.

As Rick and Shane turned around to head back to the car, Randall began to panic. "Aw come on, don't be stupid. I owe you guys! I can help protect what you got!" He shuffled around on his knees, "Why would you save my life only to kill me by leaving me here?!"

Laura blinked at him, he was getting loud and loud attracts walkers. She was uncomfortable, but since they were leaving and they didn't seem too interested, she figured it was best to leave it alone and get home before walkers do show up.

"One guy, one guy can't make it alone! That's why I was with those dudes, I was alone! Don't be stupid I'm not like them!" They paused for a moment, Rick pulled out a knife and dropped it to the ground. It was a way for Randall to cut his bonds and try to survive. Laura did understand his reason though, everyone she's seen makes it together, survives together, she didn't know if anyone was capable of living out here with walkers alone.

Aside from herself of course.

"I'm just... some guy! I used to watch football and screw around on the internet! I live with my mom!" Laura didn't like hearing any of this, she was more relaxed when Randall was a name with no face. Now that he was and he was begging for help... Laura wasn't really strong enough, but she wasn't going to go against Rick's decision.

That and she knew why they had to leave him, the people he was with before. They didn't have much of a choice.

"I lost her like you lost people!" He sounded about done, Laura was walking just behind Rick and Shane trying to keep out the sound of Randall's begging. "I went to school with Maggie for god's sake!"

The made Rick and Shane stop. Laura turned around and looked at Randall, he seemed surprised that caught their attention. "Went to church! Uh, rode the bench on varsity baseball!"

Rick and Shane were quickly on their way back to Randall. "You went to school with Maggie?" Rick demanded, but Randall was worried he'd said something wrong now. "Answer the question! Did you go to school with Maggie?" Shane was right behind Rick, both of them alarmed and angry that they had only just found this out.

"Ah, uh, she didn't know me!" Randall felt like he stepped over a line, but it may have gotten him out of being left here. "Didn't even know I existed. I mean, I knew her, I knew who her dad was..." He had an in, now Randall wanted to convince them. "There is no way I would ever do anything to hurt her or her family! Or you! Or your people! I'm not like the guys I was with!"

"Jesus..." Shane walked away, Rick couldn't even look at Randall for a moment.

Laura didn't see the problem with knowing someone, Randall may have known Maggie, knew Hershel's name, but it didn't mean he knew anything beyond that. However, there was a chance he knew more or something, enough to cause trouble for the farm and everyone on it.

"He knows where the farm is Rick, he knows." Shane was standing beside Rick, talking carefully. "Say he finds his way back to his people..."

The two of them remained silent, Laura came up to Rick, she hadn't spoken much because Shane was around, but this was important. "He knows Maggie, he knows Hershel. That doesn't mean he knows where the farm is. Even then, it's unlikely for a single person to survive out here long enough anyways. He doesn't recognize this place, he may not ever know where he is."

Shane gave her a death glare, but she wasn't backing down. Every decision like this, with such weight, should only be made when someone knows all the possibilities. Judging Randall based on that he knew Maggie, or just saw her at school sometimes doesn't mean he knows much more than that.

Before Laura could realize it, Shane had pulled out his pistol and begun to aim it at Randall. "Shane no!" Rick jumped at him, messing up his aim so he missed Randall. Shane fell to the ground, looking more pissed off than ever.

"Not now! Just not now!" Rick towered over him, he didn't want to kill Randall without a second thought.

Shane was sitting against the car behind him, "Well when Rick, when?" Laura gulped, Rick was better about it all and kicked the gun away from Shane. "When I've had a chance to think about."

"Don't let him kill me, please don't." Randall looked a little shaken by the shot, "Shut up!" Laura jumped a little. This was getting out of hand and fast.

"Laura," She jumped again, nervous as can be, "You're shaking." She nodded and shook herself down, trying to calm her nerves. She came up to Rick and offered a hand, resting it on his arm. "It's okay, this is rather serious. I don't know what to do from this point, Shane could be right, but Randall may not know many things. It's ultimately up to you, I'm right behind you."

He nodded, "We're going back, it's a man's life. I need a night to think it through."

Shane sneered, "You're gonna bring this piece of garbage... this piece of garbage back to where Lori sleeps? Where Carl sleeps?!"

"He'll be locked up in the barn," Rick went over to him, "Unless you bust it open!" Shane turned away, "Ah don't start this."

"I'm going to take the night." He was sure and Laura agreed, if Randall was dangerous enough to risk the farm, they would deal with it, if he wasn't then they could let him go. It was all circumstantial and none of it could be proven. Randall's word was worthless and no one else knows him.

"You take it, you think on it Rick. Keep- keep struggling with it!" The cop duo were tense, this was not the time or the place to begin arguing. "It ain't hard man, the right choice is the one that keeps us alive! It's always the same with you!" Shane stood up and Rick stepped back. Laura got a little further from the two men, she knew Shane's temper and wanted to make sure that they could both defend themselves in case Shane went out of control.

"Stop acting like you know everything!" Rick came back up to Shane, "Like you know the rules. There are no rules man, we're lost."

"No, no, no, man. I know exactly where I am." Rick had turned around from Shane, but came right back. "You don't know shit anymore."

"I don't think you can do it man," Laura got in a clear view of Shane, this tense situation was bound to get worse. She was on Rick's side and Shane had a tendency to take everything a few steps too far. "It's my call."

Shane looked pointedly at Rick, "I don't think you can keep them safe."

Rick paused, the two staring directly at each other, neither of them aware of their surroundings. Surprisingly, Rick threw the first punch, but Shane anticipated it, caught his arm, and headbutted him hard. Rick was disoriented from the suddenness of the hit and fell.

Shane acted, taking Rick's gun, but he wasn't fast enough. Rick got back up and pinned Shane against the car and threw his punches.

Laura couldn't get in, they were too close. She wouldn't kill Shane, which is why she didn't have her machete or gun out, but she wanted to defend Rick, let him know it's two against one. So far, Rick was on top. After the first two crackling punches, Shane got a grip on Rick and tackled him into the car.

The two began wrestling more than fighting, Laura couldn't help. She was useless at this close, she had to watch for Walkers and help when she could.

Rick was already taking back lead in the fight though, forcing Shane into a grate and punching the larger man in the ribs. She tried to come up, but with Shane pinned for the moment, Laura had to stay back. No walkers had come by yet, everything but the two fighting men were quiet.

Shane pushed back, finally getting a hit in on Rick who returned with more force than Shane did.

Unfortunately, Shane's punches were harder than Rick's, and tended to cause disorientation. When Shane threw Rick down, he pulled the motorcycle next to Rick on Rick's legs.

Laura could help now, Rick could lift the motorcycle, but Shane was going to go kill Randall and possibly Rick if he got the gun. She had to make sure he didn't get far enough.

Dropping the backpack, Laura raced up to Shane and leaped onto his back. She was smaller than him, but she could stop him if she had to. She quickly locked an arm around his neck, trying to interrupt his plan. He had a grip on her, but hers was better. Struggling to get her off, his breathing became weaker, but instead of going to grab her, he rammed his back into the firetruck where the gun had fallen under.

She wasn't going to let go so easily, but he kept bashing her into the truck until he got a hold of one of her legs from around him and forced her onto the firetruck's handle, which stuck her in the back enough to make her grip loosen. He pulled her leg and she couldn't hold on any longer.

He knocked her to the ground and went to try and get the gun again, but she grabbed his leg and, against her better decisions, bit him hard. _Harder! Harder and you'll draw blood! All you'd have to do then is chew!_

Laura couldn't bite through the material of his pants leg, but it was enough to make him crawl back out.

"You little-!" He grabbed her by the back of her head, taking a fistful of hair as he tried to yank her off.

She let go of her bite quickly, on purpose though. Shane hadn't gotten the gun yet, thankfully, she was sure he'd have shot her if he had done. He let go of her hair once she scratched his hands, but he came back with force, grabbing by her arm and punching her with enough force for her to start seeing white, it was enough for him to get the gun he was after.

Laura stood up behind him, stumbling slightly as she came back up, grasping onto the back of his shirt, he spun around and aimed the gun at her. She stopped, completely still.

Rick came up and pulled him away, his hand knocked against a car and the gun went flying. Laura took the chance to collect the gun so he couldn't go for it again.

Shane was forced to the ground with Rick on him, punching him repeatedly until Rick felt like he got the point. Shane lost and Rick wasn't going to do anymore damage for this.

"You're not doing this!" Rick was stumbling too, his leg was hurting from the motorcycle that was dropped on him, but he was able to stand fairly steadily. "You don't get to make these calls anymore! I won't let you."

They were both panting, Shane leaning against a grated trailer and Rick standing a little ways from him. Laura was at the tail of one of the cop cars, hoping that would be the end of all this, that Shane would stop and they can load Randall up and go home.

The injuries might be hard to make excuses for, but they were all alive and that's what mattered to them and the group at the farmhouse.

Shane stood up, looking at Rick with such rage that told Laura and Rick both that he wasn't done just yet. He wasn't going to stop.

With a roar of anger, Shane hurled a massive monkey wrench at Rick, who barely dodged it. The resulting crash through the window made them all stop for at least a moment. That could've killed Rick, Laura had no doubts that Shane understood that perfectly.

As they stood, Shane saw a very dead hand reach up the broken window, crunching the glass and old wood in it's fingers.

Rick saw it too, but they had to deal with the walker fast, before it reached either one of them. Rick was fast, he got up and took his knife out. Using his forearm to keep the head away from him and the range of his arms to keep it from grasping onto him, he stumbled into the trash heap and stabbed the walker in the neck, before aiming again and killing it for good.

Only a second passed before more walkers came out of the building, piling out so fast they fell out of the window. They had already seen Shane, he had to run. Laura couldn't help him now and even if she could, he took off too fast for her to help.

Rick pulled the dead walker over him, hiding him from the other walkers chasing after Shane now.

She couldn't give Rick away yet, she had to wait. Once the walkers had followed Shane far enough, Rick shoved the dead walker off of him. "Rick," Laura hurried to his side, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "I'm fine, where'd Shane go?" Laura looked in the direction he went, but couldn't see him or the walkers anymore.

Another walker stepped out of the window, he was big and knew Rick was alive. With a wretched screech, it came down after Rick. "Run!" Laura stepped in between the walker and Rick, who did as she said and began to run away.

She stopped the walker from moving forward, but two more walkers came out, watching Rick run away was enough to tell them to go and get him. She stood in one of their paths, but they went to go around the car to get to Rick.

Laura reached for one of them, grabbing them by the shirt. She needed her machete.

She had a weapon, she remembered it now. It was sheathed in her backpack. She let the walker's shirt go and reached for it. With a weapon in her hand, Laura felt a little more useful.

With a grunt, she shoved the walker back, giving herself enough room to swing the machete into his skull, killing him instantly. With one down, two were now on their way to Rick. She could catch up with them, but one was beyond a few cars and she didn't know where Rick was.

Climbing on top of the cop car, she saw the two walkers and saw Rick a few cars away from them.

She used the cars to save time, jumping on hood after hood. She was glad they all had flat hoods and roofs, they were older designed cars, so they weren't very sleek.

Reaching one of the walkers, she jumped down and grabbed it, using the machete to cut into the leg, which made the walker fall before sinking the blade into its skull. The last walker was about to reach Rick, she wouldn't be able to make it to that one in time.

Climbing back onto the hood of the car, she heard a gunshot and saw the walker she missed fall. Rick used his gun on it, he was in a panic to get away. There had been so many walkers that Laura wasn't sure if she could've even helped them.

She came up to see Randall, having killed a walker, was trying to get away. Knowing Rick's wishes to take him back and contemplate the issue, Laura went for him. Rick is a good survivor, he'd be fine if he kept his head down. She didn't really want Randall to get eaten or to run off with the potential knowledge to risk the farm's safety.

Catching his shirt, she pulled him into a car, hiding him from the walkers a few cars down. "Stay down!" She shushed him, but Randall seemed more shocked at her appearance rather than what she said.

He swung the blade that Rick had dropped for him at her, trying to kill her like any other walker. "What the-" Laura grabbed his hand and pulled him down the side of the car. "Stop that, would you!"

Randall blinked, "You're alive? Like, really alive? You're the girl with them two guys, right?"

She nodded, realizing that she was out of Randall's view almost the entire time, he'd only have glanced her once or twice. He probably couldn't have made out what she looked like. Laura ignored him mostly, but held a machete in her hand and kept a hold of him for good measure.

Laura stood to look out over the cars, to see what was happening.

Shane was trapped inside one of the school buses, all the walkers that had chased him out of the building banging on the door to get in, but Shane was strong enough to brace it shut, for now. With Shane safe for now, she tried to catch up with Rick, who was on another side of an SUV near the school bus.

"Aw no, no, no, no; we can't help them now!" Randall was still panicking, "They're too close, too many walkers over there! We'd get killed! That guy in the bus, he tried to kill you two! We can get away, they won't see us! We can just... sneak out the fence over there, take the car, get out of here!"

Laura wasn't going to leave Rick behind, with Shane's attempt on Rick's life, she wasn't too sure that Rick would even risk saving Shane from a walker surrounded school bus. There wasn't much of a chance for Shane, but it was Rick's call.

All she had to do is figure out which call that was and how to get to Rick.

"Come on, it'll be okay! We can make it out there, the two of us! We can even go back to your farm!" Laura really didn't think much of Randall now, but he was still just a kid. "Look, I know I'm not much of a looker, but neither are you! We can get along! It'll be fun, I promise! We just can't stay here, we gotta go!"

Laura's eyes went wide and stared at Randall with such intensity that Randall eventually stopped talking.

Shaking her head, she refocused her efforts to get to Rick. There was a path clear enough to move Randall through with no risk of walkers catching sight of them. She could hide a human, at least one, but if Randall continued to be... Randall, she'd never pass him off as a walker.

Her only option was to sneak around the cars to reach Rick, at the very least they could meet each other somewhere.

"Now, you follow me and you follow close. We gotta move and you're either one step behind me or you're walker bait." She grabbed the neck of his shirt, "Now let's go."

Laura crossed the area where they had originally dropped off Randall, she remembered the backpack she had to lose earlier to stop Shane from killing Randall. It was still where she left it and as they made their way through the cars, Laura picked it up and strapped it to her back again, Randall wasn't leaving her side so it seemed.

"Come on, go, go." Laura shoved Randall ahead of her, they were nearing where Laura had seen Rick at only moments ago.

Thankfully, it seemed he hadn't moved. They came up from behind him, Randall in front of her so when Rick turned towards the steps he heard behind him, he saw Randall standing there with his hands up.

Laura came up from behind him, "Rick, are you okay? I heard the gunshot." He nodded, "I'm fine, nothing I couldn't handle. Are you alright?"

She gave him a nervous smile, "No worse for wear, a little worried about Shane though. He's stuck in there and there's a lot in there, I can go kill them one by one if you want me too."

Rick gave her a thoughtful look, he was trying to decide if he should save the life of the man who tried to take his. Laura rested a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay to let him go now, if you want to leave, we can leave. What Shane did isn't acceptable, he tried to murder you; you owe him nothing. Whether you choose to save him or not, there is no wrong answer here."

He sighed deeply, taking one last look at Shane. "Let's go."

Rick took Randall's knife and pushed him ahead of them both. Laura followed Rick out towards the fence exit, looking on the school bus as they left. She could see Shane's growing fear as the three of them left his sight.

Laura definitely didn't like leaving someone behind, but she knew Shane, knew what he did and what he will do. Shane's actions are wrong and nearly killed them both. Risking the lives of others because they don't like each other anymore isn't something to let slide. It seemed this was Shane's punishment in some twisted, end of the world with no real justice system kind of way.

They were nearing the car when Rick paused, looking down at the two officers they had killed; they were both walkers and had to be put down. Rick saw them side by side, to their death, and he felt a very sharp pain of regret and nostalgia. He felt like he was looking at himself and Shane, Laura didn't know exactly how he saw them both as the deceased officers, but it was enough to change Rick's mind.

"Laura, can you drive?" Rick opened the trunk and forced Randall in, "Oh no man, not the trunk again! I can help!" Rick glared, "Shut up and get in." Reluctantly, Randall climbed in and Rick shut the trunk on him.

"Yeah, I can. What do you need?" Laura sheathed her machete, taking the backpack off and throwing it in the backseat. "I need you to drive, we're going to get Shane."

Laura opened the driver side door, they both got in and she waited to hear Rick's plan. "These fences aren't strong enough to stop a car." Laura blinked, she was going to run over the fence. "Hit it and drive around the back of the bus, right side to the bus, Shane will have to get out of the bus through the emergency door. But we gotta move fast, can you do that?"

She nodded, "I got this." He took out his gun and rolled his window down and he reached in the back to do the same to the backseat window behind him. "Drive."

Laura stepped on it, hoping to have enough force to break down the fence safely and have the time to get away from the walkers.

The fence snapped down when the front of the car hit it, bending like paper. Rick leaned out of the car window and fired on the walkers, hoping to give them more time to get Shane.

"Shane! Get to the back door! Jump in!" Rick shouted, still shooting down walkers. Shane heard him and ran as fast as he could to the back, kicking the door open and jumping in through the back window. "Go, let's get out of here!" Rick slid back in through the window, both Shane and Rick rolled them up.

Laura pulled back, reversing enough to get to the double gated entrance. The chains and lock wasn't enough to stop the car from ramming through it. They were on the road, heading back to the farm.

Releasing a deep breath, Laura looked over to Rick. "Oh shit, we did it." The two were panting, exhausted and sparked from the adrenalin rush.

Despite her usual self, Laura used the rear view mirror to see Shane, who seemed confused, alarmed, and relieved all at the same time. "Shane, you alright? No bites?"

He caught her eye for a moment in the mirror. "Nah, I'm good."

Once they were down the road a little ways Laura began to slow up, "Stop at the top of this hill. We have to deal with Randall."

She nodded and once at the top, did as he asked. Parking the car, both Rick and Shane stepped out. Randall was still in the trunk, but he wasn't bound, blindfolded, or deaf from the music they played earlier. If he was smart enough, he could pick up on things.

It was over, as far as she knew. It was a failed attempt to leave Randall behind, to get him out of their hair, but it seemed to be something of a progression. Shane did just try to kill Rick though, she wondered what Rick would do about that since he chose to save Shane.

She's also still wondering why the Voice wanted her to come along in the first place. She knew she bit Shane, but it wasn't a serious enough from the suggestion the Voice gave her earlier. Whatever the Voice had planned, it never came to be.

 _It wasn't the right time... I expected something... more._ Laura frowned at herself, every time she thought about the voice, it appeared. _I had something else in mind. However, they didn't give you the opportunity._

" _What kind of opportunity are we talking about here?_ " She wanted to know what she should look out for, but she didn't expect the Voice to actually answer her.

 _I am looking for my outing, practicing my control; waiting for the moment to strike out. There was nothing there this time, nothing that wouldn't have gotten us killed._ It sounded disappointed, like it believed this trip would have gone differently. _My opportunity is a chance I get to assert my dominance over you. To show you what you really are and what you will become. This attempt on the boy's life wasn't the right moment, I had thought he'd be the perfect target for you; however, I now know that there is a better one. The one who tried to kill him._

Laura glanced out the window, turning around so she could just see Shane's shoulder and side from behind the car. " _Shane?_ "

 _Exactly._ She bit her cheek, Shane wasn't really someone she cared much about and neither did the group for the most part, but eating someone is still _eating_ someone. No matter who it is, it wouldn't be good. _Shane Walsh, the cop with so much bravado it's even driving him crazy. The best part is... if no one catches you... no one will miss him and there won't be a single person who would ever think you'd do such a thing. Only Shane would accuse you._

She shook her head, grasping the wheel tightly. " _I don't care who it is, it isn't going to happen._ "

 _We will see._ The Voice, again, faded away from her. It had found the person it wanted to finish off. She didn't know it's plan, or what it was ever thinking, but it was ahead of her in every sense.

Laura was worried she may do something she can't control.

Once they were back in the car, they were on their way to the farm again. Randall secured in the trunk and the two cops just as silent as before.

Almost like it never happened.


	34. Surrender

The drive back was long and tiring, the tension between Rick and Shane was suffocating her. Shane didn't make this easy, he wanted them to know he was against Rick's leadership. For now though, the large man was beaten and knew he was lucky that Rick didn't kill him or let him die in that bus. Some part of him knew that had Laura gave Rick the confidence and understanding to leave Shane behind, he might've done it.

He owed Rick his life, and owed Laura an apology. Not like she'd ever get it though.

There was a lot to consider about this long and troublesome day. How would Rick ever be sure that Shane wouldn't try again? Could he ever have trust in the man who used to watch his back? The man who slept with his wife and called Rick's son his own?

Laura didn't think for a moment that this was the end of their feud. Something would come up, Shane would not let this go after one failed attempt.

This was not the last of their troubles.

She couldn't help but feel like the world was beginning to close in on them. The Greene's farm has been a wonderful find, the people were kind and hospitable, yet there was this nagging she could not resist in her head.

The Voice was a growing issue, she couldn't deny it anymore. Shane was the target, she didn't know when or where... Shane would be facing with the one side of Laura she never wanted to show. Those images forced in her mind were still so vivid, she always tried to forget them and they would come back clearer than before.

It was challenging to keep herself in line while this was happening, it was time to accept that she was becoming a risk.

"I don't know what to say to him."

Rick was with her, talking to her and she barely heard him this entire time. Too worried about herself, for them.

Laura looked down, they had arrived back at the farm. People were crying relief as they pulled into the drive. Laura couldn't help but feel that relief would be short lived, destroyed by an even worse situation.

What happened between Rick and Shane... It was bad - Very bad. No one would know how to control Shane, Laura did not know how to explain that Rick was allowing him back in the group knowing fine well that Shane had, and maybe still, wants him dead. At the very least just _out of the way._ It was growing more dangerous for Rick to just to be around.

Now, back at the farm, after the tearful greetings, they all saw that Randall was still with them and tied back up in the shed. This was an unwelcome development, but looking at the shape of Rick, Shane, and Laura; they no longer cared if Randall was there or not. They all had showers, their wounds cleaned and taken care of.

With the group all calmed down and most asleep, Laura had a moment alone with Rick finally. She knew Rick wanted to talk to her ever since they got back, the looks he was giving her said it had to be in private though. Most likely about Shane.

Here they were, in the fields. She was leaning against the fence, feeling her body ache dully. Rick was close to pacing, regardless of his own exhausted state.

They were talking about Daryl now though and she knew it. Rick hadn't said his name, but she knew what he meant.

"I know, Rick. I know." She sighed, glad that the Greene's were generous enough to have saved them some dinner that had been leftover, but if only a good dinner could erase her inner struggles. She could feel it even now, the hunger was returning and Daryl's reaction to what happened with Rick and Shane was the least of her concerns anymore.

"We can't tell him what happened, that much I know." Rick sighed, coming to lean against the fence beside her. "How are you feeling? I should've asked that first. I couldn't see what he did to you."

Laura could hear his voice dripping with guilt, he felt responsible for what Shane did. "I'm fine, Rick. You should take it easy though, you took more of a beating than I did." She could see the cuts on his face, though cleaned and harder to see, they were still signs of what transpired. Someone would know eventually though, wouldn't they?

"Maybe, but you had enough injuries to deal with. Gotta look out for you better, you don't heal like us, right?" Rick put his arm around her shoulders, "I'm just... sorry about what went down back there. I feel like Shane shouldn't have gotten you involved. I don't know what he would have done if he got that gun though."

"I know what he would have done." Laura mused, Rick looked at her with concern and let out another deep sigh. "Yeah, so do I."

There was a silent moment shared between them while Laura kept her mind quiet. She was beginning to love the silence more than the company. It was not a good sign to her; she loved the group and the people that built it. This new fear of hurting them was starting to become overbearing.

Thinking about the Voice would often call it to the surface, but she couldn't help it. She wondered what was wrong, how it changed so quickly. Why could she only now remember who she really was?

Laura felt like she needed someone close to her now more than ever, yet feared what should happen to them if they did stay with her. It was painful, she could hurt someone. She could _kill_ someone. They all trusted her so much, save for Shane of course. That was the plan though, to get rid of the only person who was actually right about her now.

"Laura..." Rick caught her attention, he could see that she was thinking hard about something. "... What is it?"

She blinked then stared at him, "What is what?"

He huffed, "I can tell when you're bothered. Not hard. You've been focused on one blade of grass for the last ten minutes. Something's on your mind, Laura." Offering a friendly smile, Rick was always looking out for everyone. She tried to help him as the weight of the group was too heavy for one person.

She needed help.

She trusted Rick.

But could he change what was already happening?

Laura felt her eyes sting and Rick caught on quickly. "Laura, what's wrong?" He turned to her at seeing her expression change so radically. She was always so docile, friendly, _happy._ Yet she was on the verge of tears. Something was very wrong. "You can tell me, I'm here for you. I owe you that much at least."

Laura gripped the fence tightly, "I'm scared, Rick. Something's gonna happen and I don't know if I can stop it."

" _Something_ always happens around here. The world ended, comes with the territory." He tried to lighten Laura's mood, but what she meant was not the world around them coming to get them.

"Rick, I-" She swallowed harshly, "-I think I might hurt someone. I think it'll be Shane." She faced him, "And I don't think I can stop it."

Rick was surprised by this, he did not understand what she meant. "Laura, what do you mean?"

She screwed her eyes shut, "I don't know if I can control myself much longer. I'm losing touch. Something bad is happening and I'm not strong enough to keep myself from hurting someone. I don't feel like myself anymore; I'm changing."

He was incapable of a measured response, his words stolen away by shock. "What do you mean, Laura?... Are you... turning?"

She shook her head, "Not like that. But maybe?" A groan escaped her, "I don't know how to describe it. I might change, but not into a walker. Into something else. I have... a part of me that's never recovered from this virus and it wants to be in control again."

The pressure of her secret was finally coming out, but she did not know what Rick could do about it. Excluding the obvious answer. Though she realized she could be dangerous now, she did not want to die. She trusted Rick and he would come through for her.

"There is a part of me that was quiet and unreachable. The cure I had worked, but I don't know if that was a good thing anymore." She could feel the tears rolling down her face, she couldn't stop how much it hurt to admit that maybe it was time she left. Before something truly terrible happened.

"Don't say that." Rick enforced, he felt bad for this beaten up girl. She was just a child to him, too young to suffer this new world. Too young to know how to kill another person. He never liked the thought of shooting someone on the job back before the world was infested. He couldn't stand seeing people fight to survive like this; he just didn't want to lose them.

He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging her to him with force. He cared about her like family, everyone in the group, no matter how much they disagreed with him were part of his life. Laura was a little different with her blue tinted skin and a heart that almost didn't beat. He cared about her just as much.

"You were meant to be here, one way or another. You are here and I wouldn't have it any other way. I want you here, but I want you to feel safe." Rick pulled back, looked her in the eye, and held her shoulders tightly.

"Rick, if I can't resist this... other side... I could seriously harm someone." She had a revolted face on, "Maybe even eat-"

"No, I won't let that happen." Rick chewed on the inside of his mouth, "I will protect you, just stay close and tell me if you get those urges. I'll be there for you, no matter what. Are you... do you feel like a walker now, even after all this?"

Laura glanced back towards the camp. "Honestly, I don't know what I am anymore. With the group, with Daryl, with you... I'd rather survive on my own than risk your lives."

"And I'd rather you stay with us. We want you here and I want you here. I will do whatever I can to keep you safe." Rick reinforced, he couldn't just agree to let her go. Not with knowing what she had done and been through to find them, to help them. He couldn't let her go.

"What if it happens anyways, Rick?"

He looked back to the group. "We'll find a way, Laura. We will. It'll be okay." He pulled her to him again, holding her head firmly. "I won't let you go without a fight, alright?"

She nodded against him, "Rick... What's happening to me?"

"I don't know. I don't know." He spoke lowly, "But we'll figure something out."

* * *

Laura had headed off to Daryl's tent. She only hoped he wasn't too disturbed by her lateness. They never intended to be out until night and they only arrived at the farm when the sun went down.

Daryl wouldn't head down to the farm and stay, though from what Maggie and Glenn told her he did show up occasionally to watch over the group. Rick trusted him to protect their people and though Daryl never said much, he was checking up on them. She was glad he was still... tolerated most of them or seemed to.

He was a better person than he let on, but people were put off by how straight forward he was. She didn't mind it, it wasn't like playing _nice_ or sugar coating problems was going to make anything better. It could even get people killed.

She wondered if he was even at the tent right now. It was a little too dangerous to go out hunting so late at night, but Daryl does know how to take care of himself. He is a capable person, also rational to a degree. He would know hunting at night was close to suicide with all the walkers out there. So once she arrived at the tent, she went around it to see the small fire he started.

Sure enough, there he was sitting on the log beside the fire. He had to have been out hunting today as there was some new, fresh squirrels hanging on the line between the trees.

"Daryl?" He turned to see her coming up and instantly got up to go to her. She thought it was relief to see her back, but it was to inspect something on her face. Shane had thrown all the force he could into his punch earlier that she had almost thought she went unconscious. She couldn't tell Daryl that... He might march into camp and kill Shane.

It was a hard hit, but Shane was beaten now. This wasn't time to make matters worse. Or public.

" _Shane._ " He growled out, he knew what a punch looked like. He had quite a few in his time and the idea that Shane went after his girl was intolerable.

"Daryl." She held onto his arm, "Don't."

He was visibly angry. "That son of a bitch does _that_ to your face and you don't wanna do nuthin' about it?" She sighed, but Daryl was definitely not having any of it. "I told him, lay hands on you again-"

"Daryl, it's alright. Rick was there, he's not in any better shape either. Randall's back in the shed. I'm done for the day, I just want to relax now. It's been pretty rough." She wanted to convince him to stay here with her even though he looked like he was about ready to strangle Shane. Probably would too if he could get close enough.

He bit his thumb, that old nervous tick. "What happened, he grab at ya'? Rick get him back?" To his credit, he did want to know what went down instead of ignoring her. Daryl wasn't as gung-ho as he once had been. She figured he made this accommodation for her specifically, it wasn't something Daryl was known for doing and was clearly having a distressing time doing it.

"Randall knows Maggie, he knows who she is. From what he said, he went to school with her. Could know where the farm is..." She fell onto the log, letting out a deep breath. "We couldn't leave him in case he found his group. So Rick wanted to take him back and think about the next step. Rick knows though, we may have to kill Randall."

Daryl grudgingly sat down on the log too, though still seething in anger. He had a soft spot for her and he knew when to take a step back. Laura looked in bad shape, he would not push her too far.

"But Shane didn't like that. Said that he didn't think Rick could keep the group safe, couldn't keep Lori and Carl safe. It was mostly just Rick and Shane, but Shane trapped Rick under a motorbike and went for a gun that they dropped. I couldn't let him kill Rick. I fought back, grabbed onto him until he knocked me off." She absentmindedly rubbed her face.

"Still hurts?" He asked, but she just shook her head. "Not much really. Don't heal fast, thankfully don't hurt as much." He only nodded his reply.

"Well, Shane pointed that gun at me but Rick grabbed him and just beat on him until Shane stopped. Rick got up and Shane hocked this huge monkey wrench at Rick. Rick tried to dodge it, but Shane missed anyways. Broke a window and about a dozen or so walkers fell out. Shane tried to hide in a bus, but got cornered. I got in between them and Rick, but there was too many. I killed some and Rick got the others. Shane was still stuck." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "We went back for Shane. Got the car, drove around, Shane jumped in through the bus's emergency door and here we are."

"Fuckin' made a mess of things." Daryl still had a growl in his voice, "Rick shoulda' left him there. Save us all the trouble."

Laura shrugged, "Maybe, there was no wrong choice. I told that to Rick too. Leaving Shane, who tried to kill us or save him." She looked to Daryl, "I dunno', maybe we should've left him there. I doubt that's the end of the bad blood between them. Shane ain't the kind to just... stop being a total dick."

Daryl huffed, giving Laura a flash of a grin. "He really is. Fuckin' ass."

Laura smiled pathetically and scooted closer to Daryl on the log. She knew he was still contemplating how he would get Shane back, but for the time being, he was trying to be good for her. Trying to be a different man, possibly one he thought was better in a way.

She knew he did that, he wanted her to think well of him. He wasn't vain, just didn't like to lose people. He lost his brother, who wasn't the best person, but he was still family. Laura still felt bad that Merle had gone the way he did; there was no safer, cleaner option. All Daryl could do is know he was out there, still surviving.

However, the group and Laura were not so sure Merle could make it on his own for long. Not with one hand.

"Thank you, Daryl." She felt like she had put a leash on Daryl. He was listening to her, biding by her wishes momentarily. He'd get off this invisible leash and Shane would be in bad shape; even if Shane was bigger and most likely tougher. Shane was also hurt right now and exhausted. Daryl had a significant upper hand.

"For what?" He was a little confused, he wanted to be in camp looking for Shane. The man had hurt his girl and that wasn't going by without a fight. Now or later.

"For being here and not killing Shane." She gave him a short smile, trying to properly express her gratitude that she didn't have to deal with two quarreling men.

He bit his lip, "Didn't say I wasn't gonna' later."

Laura giggled, "That's fine, I'm just too tired to deal with it right now." He put a careful arm around her waist and she leaned against his shoulder.

"I know that, darlin'. I ain't gonna do shit for now, don't mean I don't want to. I'll get that fucker back tomorrow." He was never completely comfortable with people touching him, even Laura. He'd come around a bit, allowed her closer to him. Though she knows he was doing all this for her, putting so much stress aside so that she would stay with him.

Daryl, for all his physical strength, skill, and street smarts, was a very cautious person. He didn't like people easy, he wanted to stay far away. Laura was a different entity to him, almost as if her infected history changed his perception of her. Though her survival and drive to move on beyond those struggles definitely did earn her his respect.

It earned the group's collective respect even. What Laura was never able to understand is while her history as a walker was troubling to hear, it helped fuel the group to survive and do a better job of it. If she could live on and fight while struggling with the virus, than they, uninfected and still human, could do so too.

Laura felt lucky to be here with them, even while she began to become their 'mascot' in a way. She was reminder that walkers were out there looking for them, but that she as a short, small girl in this new dangerous world was capable of survival. They would use each other and her as motivation to continue looking for their new, permanent home.

Daryl, on the other hand, respected her because even with having been a walker at one point, Laura still demanded respect from people and had not given into fear. She stayed smart, knew where to go and when. If she was stuck alone somewhere, Daryl wouldn't worry so much unlike Rick would worry about Lori or Glenn would Maggie.

He knew she could handle herself and find her way back to them, walkers, survivors; hell or not. That commanded his attention.

Not to mention she was the only girl sweet on him. She wasn't harsh or rude, didn't panic or depend on other people to _not_ starve. She treated him well and all she wanted was someone to return that.

Granted, he wasn't the nicest or most _romantic_ of men. He could give her what she needed, someone sturdy to hold onto. He cared about her, wanted to know she was alright even though in the back of his head he knew she'd be just fine. She treated him different than other people, listened to him, didn't force him to do or be someone else.

But he wanted to be better for her. In these moments where something wasn't chasing them, he could do that.

Didn't much care if other people knew, he did want them aware that if they messed her up then he'd return the favor. Shane knows this, he accepted that now. Though he didn't think Daryl could do anything.

"Come on, girl. I gotta' sleep sometime." He jostled her a little, then noticed something very odd. Laura said she was _too tired_ to deal with it. He scoffed, "Thought you said you don't get tired-"

He looked down and saw her eyes closed, she was completely still. She didn't need to breathe to live, not as much anyways, but her motionless form was still cause for concern.

"Laura?" He spoke quietly at first, his reaction was that she was asleep. Only, she didn't sleep. "Laura!"

She didn't budge. Daryl jumped up, supporting her. "Laura, wake up girl. What's wrong?" He shook her but she did not open her eyes.

He laid her on the log and pressed an ear to her chest, waiting to hear the beat of her heart. It was slow, he knew that, it'd take a moment. He waited, and waited, and waited.

"Fuck!"

Daryl picked her up, her body limp in his arms. He ran back to the camp, Hershel would know what to do. He told himself that, the man wasn't an actual doctor, but he'd still know. He had to. Something was wrong with her, Daryl couldn't let her die here. She took a punch, she's done that before; why was this different? Why wasn't she waking up?

Every step felt like it took longer than the last until he finally reached the farm. Dale was on lookout, in the midst of switching shifts with Glenn when Daryl ran up.

They saw him once he was close enough and both got down off the RV. They could just make out that there was something in his arms and immediately went to full alert.

"Daryl!" Glenn called out as he was rushing to meet him. Dale could see who it was in Daryl's arms, "Laura!"

The calls of alarm started to wake up the camp, most thinking it was walkers until some of them opened their tents to see Laura being carried by Daryl. Glenn and Dale beside them, ready to help.

"Go get Hershel!" Dale told Glenn, who bolted into the farmhouse to wake up Hershel. The Greene's were well asleep, but the lights began to turn on quickly once they heard the door slam behind Glenn.

Rick was up fast, he had only been in his cot with Lori for twenty minutes when he heard Glenn and Dale. The rest of the camp lit up like wildfire, all to Daryl and Laura wondering what had happened, why she was unconscious.

"Daryl, what's wrong with her? What happened?" Rick came up, without time to dress or prepare he walked with Daryl, but he was completely awake upon seeing Laura's seemingly lifeless body.

He wasn't replying though, his only focus was getting her inside and with Hershel. After that, make sure she didn't die. It was always a worry that her slow heart could mean she could die, they didn't understand her medical condition well enough to know what she would do, what her body would do. At this point; there was a very real chance that her heart had just given up.

Daryl rushed into the house, Maggie was holding the door open for him, only in her PJ's with Beth nearby. Hershel wasn't down yet, but Glenn came up to tell them where to go. "Upstairs, first room on the left. Hershel said he's coming, he's gotta get dressed." Patricia was standing at the top of the stairs, ready to show them where to go.

Maggie, Beth, Glenn, and Daryl carrying Laura all went upstairs. Rick kept everyone else downstairs for the time being. "Wait here, I'm going to help Hershel. See if I can find out what's going on. Y'all wait here, I'll tell you once we know." Rick assured them and headed up the stairs with the rest.

Lori and Carol looked at each other, their respective children in their arms. T-Dog, Shane, and Dale were all standing in the hallway, anxious to know what was going on.

Upstairs, Hershel had entered the room just as they had laid Laura on the bed. Patricia had Daryl stand back as she checked Laura's vital signs, but it was all for naught. There was no sign of life.

"Is she hurt? What happened to her?" Patricia asked while going through checking Laura for physical wounds.

"Nuthin' happened! We were sittin' down, at our campfire. We were talkin' normal then she just passed out. I couldn't wake her up, so I brought her to you guys." Daryl was actually growing more and more worried. There was nothing stressful happening, he wasn't trying to cause problems. He knew Laura didn't like dealing with fights.

"Did she complain about anything? Headaches, fever, anything at all?" She asked while she lifted Laura's wrist, trying to count the pulse.

Rick was standing there and voiced what happened to her when they were out. "She got hit a few times, we were out trying to drop Randall far from camp. Took a few hits, but I didn't see if they were real bad. Nothing like this."

"I remember, nothing broke the skin..." Patricia had been there helping patch up Rick, Shane, and Laura earlier. "I didn't see any signs of concussion or internal injury. There must be something else... I can't get a pulse." She sighed, "I don't know how to tell if she's alive or..."

"She's a cured walker, she doesn't have normal vitals. Heart is slow, pulse, breathing- Can't tell if she's healthy 'cause of it." Rick was panicking some, he couldn't believe Laura was in this situation so soon after they had spoken. It wasn't even an hour ago. She was fine, she'd been hit plenty of times before and this never happened.

"I was there, I'm trying to find anything. I know her heart rate is slow, but Rick... I'm not getting any sign she's still alive." Patricia gave him an apologetic look. "I don't know how to tell if she's still with us."

"Patricia?" Hershel asked, seeing how troubled she was not being able to get a pulse.

She looked up to him and shook her head. "It's like... she just switched off. Like a light. No concussion, no serious internal injuries. I can't find even the slowest of vital signs. Hershel..."

He nodded, "Alright, everyone out. Rick, Daryl, you two stay."

Maggie, Glenn, Beth, and Patricia all slowly left the room. Believing they had just lost a member of the group. They all went down stairs and were immediately met with questions, but they didn't even know how to answer them. Glenn was with Maggie while she comforted her younger sister.

In the room, Hershel had Rick and Daryl sit down, even though the hunter was hesitant to do anything but get Laura medical help.

"Rick, I'm sorry." Hershel glanced to Daryl, "I'll do what I can to find some life signs, but I can't promise I'll find them. She was in bad shape before, if the injuries she sustained earlier were severe enough her heart might've just decided to stop. We already knew her condition."

"I understand that, Hershel. I just can't figure out why that would happen. She was fine, I talked to her an hour ago." Rick ran a hand down her face, "Is there anything that can be done?"

"Well, unless we see some improvement, no. We can monitor her, see if we can get her to a stable rate, but without the heart pumping... there's a very real chance that she won't wake up. Now, for safety, knowing her; we will secure her to the bed and isolate the room. No one goes in without a way to defend themselves." He nodded towards Rick, "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah... just, try something, Hershel. Please." Rick stood up, "We can watch her, make sure."

"Y'all talkin' like she's already dead. You don't know shit, all we know she just passed out. Don't mean she's dead!" Daryl was livid, not at them really; at the idea that Laura was leaving them. "Give her a damn chance, don't pop her just 'cause she ain't doin' what normal people do."

"We won't, Daryl. I promise you that." Rick reassured Daryl, "I won't let anything happen to her. Not until we know for certain. It's a good idea though, for everyone, that she be restrained just in case."

Hershel gestured them to the door. "Patricia and I will handle it from here."

Rick gave him an odd look, "You sure? We could-"

"Rick, I'd rather not have two volatile, emotional men with guns up here making a mess. Now, Patricia and I can take care of ourselves. Best you two head out and get some rest. Nothing can be done tonight. When you get downstairs, tell Patricia I need her." Hershel led them out the room.

"I wanna' be here. 'Case she wakes up." Daryl was still very confused as to what was going on, why Laura was... not alright. He wanted to stay.

Hershel put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand, believe me I do. There's nothing good to come out of sitting in here and I need to work. Best if you get some sleep and I'll tell you what we find in the morning."

Rick led Daryl out of the room now, Hershel closed the door behind him. All Rick could think is the stress Daryl was under now and wanted to show that he could be counted on when it came to Laura's safety.

"Daryl, I'm sorry about all this. I swear, I will keep Laura safe and make sure everything that can be done to help her will be, alright?" Rick was trying to earn some trust, this was a sensitive issue.

Daryl just gave Rick a critical look, "Yeah, ya' mean like how you did with Shane?" Rick looked down for a moment, trying to reply carefully. "I ain't stupid, I know what it looks like gettin' in a damn fight. Girl got battered and that asshole's still out there, couldn't be happier that she's in there. Could be dyin'!"

Rick just let the hunter take out his frustration, he had no way to respond to his accusations. He felt bad that Laura got hurt and he thought it was his fault anyways, it was no use trying to resist the angry and worried man.

"Tell you somethin', Rick. You keep that fucker away from my girl; next time I catch him, I'll kill him. He just fuckin' can't keep his hands to himself. He tried to kill you, Laura and you're still lettin' him walk around without doin' nuthin' about it. Fuckin' stop being so blind, that bastard has it out for you and he ain't gonna stop." Daryl stormed down that stairs and out of the farmhouse. He was too ready to get into a fight, Shane or Rick; at this point he didn't much care.

He knew she'd be unhappy about him fighting Rick though. He didn't understand that friendship they built up, but he did not much care so long as she was safe.

Back at the farmhouse, Rick mentally prepared himself for a flurry of questions. What he got instead was the group looking crushed, sitting around their own small fire. Glenn and Maggie sitting close together, the others silent as the grave. Apparently they already talked about Laura's condition and were all too worried to say much.

Rick approached Lori and Carl, sat down, and joined the silent group.


	35. Escape the Sanctuary

It was a bad time to be down for Laura. The camp was breaking apart fast and Laura, often a voice of reason, even if small, would've been an asset that Dale could've used now.

As they discussed the execution of Randall.

So much was happening so fast and yet in the bed she remained, as motionless as she had been when Daryl brought her in. He didn't want to stay in that room now, part of him did not want to be the first to know if she'd died. He hated feeling useless and sitting in that room, staring at her body restrained to that bed made him feel weak.

He was unable to stop the damage that had been done to her. He did not know her back when her father experimented on her, or when those men forced themselves on her. There was nothing to be done about the wounds she suffered thus far, but he felt as though he should be there for her now. When Shane nearly killed her when he opened the barn doors, when he attacked Rick and Laura.

When she fell off the horse.

Those bruises and wounds were not his to stop anymore, he could not be around all the time. So far she defended herself, he was sure she would have died by now had she not.

It didn't make him feel much better, but nothing that was happening helped anyone.

Dale was defending Randall's life, claiming respect for human value while the others were discussing how to go about ending the boy's life. It was an argument, the morality of the situation was no clearer than Randall's head right now after Daryl was done with it. Far as he was concerned, Randall got them all in danger, Laura too, which made him extra volatile.

Rick gave Dale a day to make his case to everyone, the only person who was on his side was Andrea. The rest were not swayed. They feared for their lives and their group, this made them too scared to change their minds. Dale was on the losing side and after he talked to the camp, he knew it. While many agreed with the morality of the issue, they could not allow Randall to risk their people.

Daryl didn't want to be part of it. He didn't believe anyone would listen to him about it anyways, Rick still stuck to Shane as his partner in leadership. Daryl just confused most people, they couldn't understand his methods or why he does what he does. Dale knew there was a chance that he could've convinced them, but with the recent scare... Laura's collapse, possible death. The situation when Rick, Shane, and Laura came back. The bar fight with Randall's group.

It had all just been too much too fast. They were more scared now than before. There was no talking to them anymore and when time came around to come to a final decision, the execution came out on top. So many had voted to remain out of the decision making, which only earned them Dale's scorn.

And it was only getting worse. That night, Dale spotted something on while on shift and investigated. Had Laura been awake to learn what that walker had done to Dale, she would be destroyed. There was no way to help him, even if she did bring him back. This was no simple walker bite, Dale was torn apart and it was not pain Laura would inflict on Dale by returning him once he turned.

Dale was dead and the group suffered. He was a part of all of their lives now, he was their moral compass in a world of grey.

The group openly mourned the loss, they did so by clearing the land of all walkers. They patrolled the area, fixed weak spots, and added more defense to the property. All that could be done was being done. The group would not lose another member because they slacked off on watches. The guards were always armed and Hershel even moved them into his home.

Everyone helped to serve each other, to stay safe. Dale's loss was the worst so far, they had experienced walkers tearing apart their camp before. Only, for some reason, Dale's death hurt deeper than most. It was odd, almost as if they believed their survival this far was assured survival for later.

And yet, there was the collection of rocks on top of a grave. Everyone worked harder and stayed tighter together, it was unacceptable to lose more.

For now, Laura remained silent as Dale's grave. Nothing was to be done for her, for Dale, or the Horde that approached their home.

* * *

There was no bright light, so that was odd. She noted a strange taste in her mouth, feeling stiff and rigid. She could hear people around her, though her body wouldn't listen to her.

Hershel talked to Patricia... Rigor mortis had set in. There were many terms she recognized, she knew her blue skin would make it hard to identify pallor mortis. Though they seemed to discuss that she no longer had the tinge of blue over her normal, healthy skin and was instead completely resembled the dead.

They tried to discuss livor mortis, but came up empty handed. She had so little flow through her body that there was nothing to pool. The same with algor mortis; her body temperature was always colder than natural. She skipped all the way to rigor and there she seemed to remain.

It came quickly, but Hershel chose to keep it secret until they knew what it meant. Perhaps it was a stage in her cure, they didn't understand enough of her condition to make a call. So they chose to wait, either until she had clear signs or they figure out exactly what was happening to her body.

Patricia agreed to not tell anyone about it so far and from there they only monitored her progression through the signs of death. Laura knew she was still alive, her brain was alive even if her body was dead.

Maybe this is what happens to those experiencing this cure? It works for a short time then the person dies? But she wasn't dead, she couldn't be. She was still aware, awake; she had no control over her body.

Was this death?

Is this what people were so afraid of?

If so, she agreed with them. It was terrifying to think that she could feel herself, to be aware of herself, but unable to tell the others that. She didn't want to die, she never wanted to. Even with her life the way it is, the suffering she's had. She wanted to live, survive, with the group and with Daryl.

She did not know how to fix herself, she was stuck. The feeling was as if she'd been covered in concrete. The stiffness was unbearable, the hunger only grew as every hour passed until all that ailed her mind was food. The Voice was absent, but that did not mean the cravings went with it.

There was a very real, very exhausting struggling going on in her mind. She fought for ownership of herself, though she could not imagine why this was happening. She could be dead, this could be the end of everything.

Until night came, she heard screams, people rushing out of the house. What happened? Why were they screaming?

A few minutes went by, silent, full of dread. Then, finally, a single echoing gunshot. Something bad, from the people who entered the house crying... someone had died. _He's gone, he's gone._ She heard that, they lost someone this night. Laura didn't know who it was, but she cried for them. For the suffering, the loss, and the dead.

 _Who died? Who did I lose?_ She cried even though her body wasn't, it hurt to know someone was lost, but it was torture to not know who it was. Anyone could have died and she had no way of finding out.

When morning came around, she had picked herself back up and was more curious to know what would happen next. Hershel checked on her already and still nothing had changed, rigor mortis was not a lasting stage of death; for some reason she was not moving into the next steps. She remained locked in place.

While the day slowly progressed, Laura felt loss over the man who died and wanted badly to know, in an almost selfish way; was it Daryl? Had she lost him without even knowing it? Was it because she was not there to look out for him, he was so far away from the camp, a walker could have gotten to him before anyone could help.

She would miss anyone who died and felt guilty for worrying about Daryl; how would a walker have killed him so easily, so quickly?

It was unlikely Daryl died at this point, she knew that. Someone to the group was gone though and she wanted to know. Her body was still rigid and she didn't know the strength it would take to fix that, or if she could even do anything about it.

People visited her through the day, Carol was first. She always loved Carol and Sophia, the two came together to see her. Hershel let few people step in for a moment, but forbade contact. Just say their wishes and leave, there was too much risk with Laura in the room. Even though her wrists, feet, body, and neck were tied down tight.

That possibly helped make things worse for her at this point, she needed to test how much force it would take to break free of herself; if she was even able to. The restraints made that next to impossible.

After Carol and Sophia, T'Dog, Glenn, and Andrea all took turns in the room. They visited her, wished her well, pleaded with her to wake up, and hoped she was still with them. They left and later more would stop by. Rick came to see her, he didn't say much of anything though. She knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. _Please don't be dead._

It wasn't until much later that Lori, Beth, and Maggie stopped by all together. They left some field flowers in a small vase and all gave their best before leaving.

There was nothing she could do to show she was alive, from what she could tell. Her heart was stopped this time, completely. She was cold, they only had the blanket over part of her, up to her chest. Her neck was secured the tightest as they had to get in close to check on a heart rate every few hours. She could feel her head pressed into the pillow uncomfortably.

It was fine with her, she understood. Something bad happened and now they were unable to tell if she was alive or dead. If she turned in the house, it could be devastating.

Hours went by agonizingly slow. It seemed forever until she heard another voice, _Why can I not move!?_

Laura jumped, the Voice surged angrily through her. _What have you done to me? This will not stop me! Let me go!_ She felt the strength radiating through the Voice, it was trying to free her. Laura recalled that the Voice was able to use her own hand to scratch iron, perhaps she could use this. _I don't care what we do to get out of this, just free me! How did you manage this?_

" _I didn't, I don't know what happened. I was fine and then all of a sudden I just... blacked out. I can't move, I've been trying._ " Laura admitted to the Voice, she felt her mind stressing out over the rage seething through the Voice. It was strong now, more capable than before. It's anger was actually hurting her.

 _We have to be free, tell them to release us! Why would they tie us up like this, like an animal! FREE ME!_ Laura let out a very short, strangled groan.

She paused, she made a sound. She used her body. It listened to her!

" _The only way out of this is to work together, maybe then we'll be strong enough to break free._ " Laura thought, the Voice was agreeing and while she was excited to get out of this trap, she froze when the Voice was ready to try.

 _No. Don't you even dare._ It's low, venomous tone threatened Laura. She was scared of the Voice, scared of dying... of losing the group and yet... _Do not even consider this, Laura. We must be free of this, do not test me now!_

" _If I get free... you could hurt them. I told Rick, I know you can... I don't want you to; I don't want to hurt my friends. You already hurt my father, he was good to me. You took my family from me, my history. If I'm free than you are free to do worse things. I can't let you._ " Laura felt herself cracking, this was a turning point now. The Voice couldn't free her body without Laura's help. It was just as trapped as she was.

_Do not do this to us, we must be free! If we remain, we will die! I cannot die like this! I hunger!_

Laura was choking back her emotion, was this the right choice? Would she even do it? She's only thinking about it for now, could she really go back to putting them all in danger just because she was around?

Could she ever protect them from herself?

At this unique moment, Sophia had entered the room and had seen Laura's struggles to even breathe. She was smart enough to know, this was different; she was in their earlier and nothing happened. She cared for Laura, who had saved her life, and took care of her when she could. Sophia understood Laura as a good person to be around, someone that could keep her safe.

So Sophia got close and listened. "Laura, are you awake? Please don't leave us, I really miss you."

Laura gulped hard, she loved Sophia so much. The little girl's death nearly destroyed the camp and when she came back to them, to Carol, everyone had a new reason to be happy.

"I haven't seen you a lot in a few days, momma says you've been real busy. That Mister Grimes needed your help a lot and that you stayed out near the trees with Mister Dixon and that I couldn't go out that far. Momma said it was dangerous alone and she had chores." Sophia held the little doll that Daryl found for her and she set it lovingly beside Laura.

"Don't go, Laura. I'll be real upset if you go." She kissed Laura's cheek before sniffing away a few tears. "They said you got all tied up in case you turned like I did. You're waking up now right? They're all real scared that boy in the shed is gone now."

" _What... Randall?!_ " Laura tried to budge herself, Sophia's compassion and loss was hard to get through, but Randall was a danger. He could hurt her, hurt the camp. He may know how to get to his group.

 _They could be in real danger now, Laura. What are you going to do? Sit here and let those men roll through this farm? They can't stop it, they're too few, too weak._ The Voice taunted, but would they really be or will they find Randall?

Laura grunted, she still didn't want to die. Not yet, not after everything she had done to survive and help this group. She didn't want the Voice to get out and, at the same time, couldn't bear losing the people she cared about. Was she so much a risk that sacrificing herself was necessary to keep them safe?

She didn't want to die. She wanted them, she wanted to be with them and help them survive. There were many times where she came in handy, if she didn't go with them back in Atlanta, Sophia would be dead. Maybe other people too, she always tried to help where she could.

Laura would've died without them too.

She owed them her life, her suffering was ended because these people cared for her. She would not insult them by letting herself die now when there might be a way out.

And so she fought against her own body and this time the Voice was more than ready to fight with her. They struggled, her head pounded at the power she was forced to use. The Voice's own strength doubled her own, it was stronger than she had imagined and soon, her body began to snap.

Jointed popped, barely moving half an inch, but it was still more than she did on her own. It was difficult, the force behind it.

Laura took a moment to relax, sucking in deep. Sophia saw her trying to move, the sound of cracking joints was odd, bordering on the disturbing. It was similar to bones being cracked and Sophia flinched every time she heard it. Sophia could see Laura's hands trying to clench, her body twisting, her knees bending. She prayed that this was normal.

"Laura...?"

" _We have to tell her to untie us, we'll never get out like this._ " Laura insisted and it was quickly agreed. The tightness of the restraints were holding Laura back from getting up off the bed. Maybe even walking.

With extreme pressure on her lungs and vocals, Laura managed to emit a few sounds. Though she realized they probably sounded more like the groans of a walker than her normal voice.

 _Form words, try harder!_ The Voice pushed Laura hard. She was almost worried they'd break her body while trying to do this.

"So-phh." Laura's strangled voice quietly ushered Sophia's name, "...I... -mm hep."

 _Fuck, that's not comprehensible. Try harder!_ It yelled in her head. _Sophia, I need help! Free me!_

The little girl was aware that Laura was trying to speak, her excitement clearly evident as she bounced. "Laura, you're awake!" She leapt onto the bed and hugged Laura, pressing herself to her stiff body.

"-Phia... help me." She ground out, her jaw wouldn't move and her lips were still stiff. "Cut... me... free!"

Sophia leaned up and saw the ties on her, "Okay!" She hopped off the bed and tried to get them off. They were tied twine, she couldn't free her with her hands. She had to cut it and Laura didn't know where anything was.

"Cut... it." She sucked in more air, "... F-nd... knife... scissor."

"Got it!" She began to look through drawers, searching for anything Laura mentioned. "There's nuthin' in here, I'm gonna go to the kitchen!" Sophia left the room and raced down the stairs.

Laura still tested herself, trying to move more parts of her body for articulation. She couldn't open her jaw, but she needed to be able to make coherent sentences. So she practiced forming words and sounds with her lips and moving her face.

It took a few minutes before Sophia came back with a serrated knife from the kitchen. It would do to remove these bonds, then she could properly try to fix this rigor.

"Good... girl. Cut them!" Laura was almost ecstatic when she felt the first twine piece snap and her hand came free. Still mostly rigid, Laura forced it to slowly crack until it came to bend across her chest. Sophia was quick to rush to her feet and cut the ties on them, to which Laura started exercising her control over them.

When the last hand was free, it was already getting dark out. Laura was too busy to notice the sounds of the panicking group down below. She was too busy fighting for her freedom and by the time she was; something had changed for the worse. And by the time Laura realized it, it was too late. Laura was not moving herself at this point, she wanted to rest and take a moment to gather herself.

But her body wasn't listening to her anymore.

"Don't do this." She strangled out, her hands came up to her mouth grasping the jaw and her head before pulling the two apart. The loud crack resonated in Laura's head, causing her to lose herself for a moment.

Sophia stood there, proud of herself, until Laura's hand grabbed her by the throat. The Voice let out a deep, guttural screech that terrified Sophia. She was scared now and Laura was trying to resist. "I'm in control now. Do not fight me on this, we have a target. Don't get this girl involved."

Laura tried to pull herself back and the Voice dropped Sophia on the floor. She was making her way out of the room, struggling to walk into the hallway. "This'll be tricky." She growled as she attempted to tackle the stairs down. One step at a time, her body still threatening to lock up on her. She braced herself on the handrails and the wall, but there wasn't much to be done to help her move any faster.

Something was too wrong about this and Laura could not regain herself. Sophia was scared hiding in the bathroom and Laura could now hear the group outside. The Voice had changed, it took her over and it was not going to be merciful. It could hurt them, Rick would understand; he could see what was happening.

She fought for dominance, which generated a terrible struggle between the two. This fight started to give Laura some more command over her body, but it wasn't enough.

During this, they failed to address the stairs and came stumbling down and bashed into the far wall at the end of the stairs. Laura was quick to recover, even while her body was beginning to loosen up and the Voice had shown to be stronger than her.

"Not, now. I won't let you." Laura stood up, she was on top again. The fall was distraction enough for the Voice to let go for a moment and it was all Laura needed to defend herself.

Right as Laura stood up and took her first breath willingly. The back door swung open and Laura caught a glimpse of Carl running off the back porch. She was almost compelled to find out what the rush was, but ignored it for the moment. It was dark out and just as Laura managed to walk to the front door, it was opened for her.

Staring back at her was Lori and the rest of the group. Lori jumped at the sight of Laura's appearance, even closer to the dead than before.

"Laura?" She squeaked out quietly. Laura didn't have a chance to answer her, she came up and hugged the woman they were all worried about. "Oh thank god you're alright." Lori was latched onto her, only letting her go when everyone else caught on.

"Laura, dammit. We thought you were dead!" T-Dog instantly came up and squeezed Laura tightly to him. "Worried we might have to dig another grave."

"We lost Dale." Andrea answered before Laura could even react. "He saw one of the cows in the field, went to check on it and got jumped by a walker. We weren't able to save him." Laura did not respond, only nodded to Andrea who she knew was close to Dale. Even if there was a few disagreements between them.

All Laura could mostly think about right now was getting out of the house. As soon as they came in, she realized how hungry she really was. It was a wrong kind of hunger, the kind that gave the Voice strength and ushered Laura back into her walker-like state. She had to leave, but inconspicuously. It would be hard, she wanted to say goodbye.

Tell them she was not safe anymore. There was a powerful, deep change in Laura and she could almost rationalize the hunger she felt. It was not something she wanted to follow through with, but the Voice had already made itself known with Sophia. The girl still didn't leave the room upstairs and Laura knew if Carol went looking for Sophia; her time would be up.

For now, she had to abide. She may not want to die, but she would not hurt them if they felt the need to. The Voice would not go easy on them and she was still losing this war.

No one knew anything yet, only that she was down and now she's back up. They were happy and some part of Laura just wanted to enjoy that for the short time she had left. She couldn't stay, she knew that at this point. The Voice was only temporarily pushed back and Laura would be unable to keep it there forever. The worst side of her was beginning to rear and Laura's mind was breaking; she wondered how long it would take until she's completely shattered.

"Come on y'all, let's get sat down and we'll wait for the guys. Can't do much standing out here; without any idea where Randall is we can't be standing outside." Laura already knew Randall was gone, Sophia was kind enough to impart that information to her. Randall wasn't dangerous alone, he was a scrawny guy with a leg injury. Even Carol could beat him.

The group all headed inside and took seats in the living room, everyone was stressed out about Randall getting free. If he found his group there was no telling how bad things could get. The only people not with them right now was Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl. Laura assumed they must be the ones out searching, she figured Daryl would be tracking the boy through the woods as usual.

Lori and Carol sat Laura on the couch between them, both showing almost motherly concern for the woman. She knew this was because of her collapse the night before, even Hershel and Patricia looked surprised when they saw her standing in the doorway.

"Laura, how are you? Daryl came running in the house with you just... You looked..." Lori could not find her words, she did not want to frighten Laura or make the other nervous. "No one thought you were still with us, we were scared we lost you for good."

Laura took a hard gulp, her stomach burning in hunger. The pangs felt like daggers in her stomach. "I'm... alright. I'm a little stiff and sore, but I'm still here." Laura could only imagine what they would say if she explained what was happening to her now. " _Here, for now._ " She thought to herself, the words failed to come from her mouth. _  
_

"You had no heart beat, no pulse; you were, medically, dead." Patricia voiced her worry. "I don't know how you can be here now, no one can survive without... well, anything for so long. Hershel and I, we tried to wait and see, but there was never anything to suggest you were still in there."

"I know, I, uh, dunno what happened either. I was... awake though. So I could hear you, but I don't know why I couldn't move. I guess my body just gave up. My brain is still working, which is what the virus does." They remembered what they saw with Jenner. The virus restarted only the base of the brain, nothing else. "I'm still here, so... I guess the cure I got is keeping me here now."

Carol put an arm around Laura and a hand on top of hers. "I'm glad you came back to us, we couldn't stand to lose you and Dale in the same night."

"What's... what went on here? Something's really wrong, but..." Laura glanced around them all, the temptation was just too strong. She couldn't stand the hunger. It was as if she was on that table again with her father testing her, he was a good man; she knew that after all this. He was helping her, he couldn't lose his daughter. There were still too many questions.

"Randall got out. Shane was going in there and he slipped the cuffs. Broke Shane's nose and ran off into the woods." Andrea answered her first, "From what we know, Shane went after him but couldn't find him. He came back and told us what happened. He's out there with Rick searching now; Daryl and Glenn went to check in another direction."

"We can't do nothing but wait here. Hoping for the best." Lori sighed, running a nervous hand through her hair. "If he gets away, we may have to leave the farm. He could find his group and we don't have the numbers or the weapons to fight back."

This time Maggie stepped up. "We can't let that boy threaten our home. We gotta stop him. With the guys out there lookin'... It's dark and I don't know if they're gonna catch that boy in time."

"All we can do is wait, it's too dangerous to be out there at night without weapons. I gotta be here with Hershel and Andrea to make sure he doesn't come back here." T-Dog started, he had a gun in his belt to be sure. Hershel had a rifle in his hand, angled in the crook of his arm. "The others gotta' find him and fast. Who knows how many walkers are out there and that kid won't be happy to be caught."

Quickly the room fell silent and they all waited to hear from anyone outside and prepared to deal with unwelcome guests if need be.

* * *

Laura's luck was wearing thin and she knew it. The resistance she faced while being in the room with the others was slowly increasing. They were... different to her now. They had a strong smell, looked separate to her; even their voices were noticeably different and Laura was losing the battle to keep herself away from them.

Sophia had not come down, the girl was heart broken. She loved Laura and right after she helped Laura go, the Voice paid the girl back by horrifying her until she was unable to leave the confines of the bathroom for fear of her life.

Almost an hour passed until someone had finally spoken up. Too many remained too anxious to talk.

Andrea shook her head, "I'm going after them." She stood up, a woman with a mission. Regardless of what people thought her capable of, Andrea was always the one to step up first. At this time, stepping up might be too dangerous.

"Don't. They could be anywhere." Lori replied, obviously exhausted from worry. "And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you." Lori was not diminishing Andrea's ability, only that had Randall decided to return; they would need all the help they could get. Andrea understood that, but still felt the need to go searching.

Until they heard the screen door opening and the sounds of heavy boots on the old wooden floors. Everyone stood and turned their attention to Daryl and Glenn entering the room, looking around and counting all the faces.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?"

"Laura," Glenn came up, giving Laura another addition to the amount of hugs and well wishes. "Good to see you up." She smiled at him before looking to Daryl who, internally, was relieved to see her up and still disturbed at the situation they were in. He would have to speak to her later, now was not the time.

"No." Lori answered, she wasn't expecting a time frame on their return.

"We heard a shot." Daryl had figured they would have come back sooner than himself and Glenn. Being that they had already found the boy in question.

Lori had no knowledge of this yet, "Maybe they found Randall."

"We found him." Lori was surprised to say the least. "Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked, still terrified at the prospect of losing their farm. Even more so at the idea of what Randall threatened the group with.

"He's a walker."

The weight of that set into the room for a moment. Randall was dead, a walker. What happened to him at that point though? How was he caught by a walker and why weren't Rick and Shane back if they had not found Randall or his trail? Shane said he'd lead Rick where he was chasing Randall, they would be back by now.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel was mostly concerned about the integrity of the farm now that Dale was gone. They did so much to protect the house and the fields, they had to clear off any walkers they could find.

Glenn looked around for a moment. "Yeah... weird thing is, he wasn't bit."

"His neck was broke." Daryl finished the thought. It was not a pleasant sight at all. There were no other walkers they found around Randall, the boy died with his neck snapped. No walker came to finish him off.

"So he fought back?" Patricia gave Hershel a worried look, no one understood what it meant for Randall to be a walker without a bite.

"Thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks are right on top of each other. Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." Daryl made plenty enough observations about Randall's death to realize, and prove, that Randall wasn't attacked by a walker and Shane was not telling the truth. It was more of an issue that it wasn't hard to believe that Shane would do this.

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane, and find out what on earth is going on." Lori was desperate to know why this had gone so wrong so fast. Everyone knew there was always a problem regarding Rick, Shane, and how they dealt with Randall. This was taking it a step too far.

"You got it." Agreeable, Daryl and Glenn were heading back out of the house. Andrea followed, now knowing that Randall was dead and no longer a danger. They wanted to go back outside to keep an eye out, see if they could catch sight of Rick or Shane. The anticipation to uncover this mess was slowly causing the group to question Shane.

When they saw Daryl raise his crossbow, they knew something was very, very wrong.

Laura was in the house with the others when Glenn came back in and told everyone some troubling news. Quickly, Hershel was outside overlooking the countless walkers that now covered his property. The barn was surrounded by them and they were out in the open.

"Patricia, kill the lights." The woman quickly ran inside to blow out candles and switch off lights in the house. They were lit in a pitch black field, the walkers would pick them up from all around the farmland. They had no defense.

"I'll get the guns."

"Maybe they'll just pass like the herd on the highway, should we just go inside?" Glenn saw that the walkers had not noticed them yet. "Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs that I don't know about. Herd that size will rip the house down." He nodded to the only visible walkers, they kept in mind that there were still more pouring out of the forest.

The guns were being handed out, Laura got a pistol out of the bag. She had rarely ever fired a gun before, but she could make a shot if she needed to help the others. Walkers still would not attack her, as far as she knew; this gun was more as a way to help the group and not herself.

"Maggie?" Glenn was worried about her, she was loading a shotgun. "You grow up country you pick up a thing or two."

"If I got the numbers, it's no use." He was still watching the walkers as they limped across the fields.

Hershel loaded his gun, "You could go if you want."

"You take 'em all on?" Daryl seemed a bit confused at the idea, Hershel was gearing for as much a battle as them. "We have guns, we have cars."

"Kill as many as we can." Andrea fit more rounds into her jacket, "Then we use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." It could be a sound idea, if the walkers chose to follow them at all. There was a lot out there, more than they were able to see.

"You serious?" Laura looked to see Hershel, he was definitely keen on the idea of fighting for his land.

"This is my farm, I'll die here." He checked his shotgun and started to walk off the porch. Laura could see the distress on Maggie's face, this was going to be a fight to remember. The herd was all around them and they were not going to stop any time soon.

"Alright," Daryl slipped over the railing, "As good a night as any."

Laura made sure her pistol was loaded and that she had plenty of extra rounds with her. She could not let them run off and get killed, if this was to be her last night with them; it would not mean their deaths. For now, she'd fight with them, help in whatever way she could. No matter what happened, she knew she couldn't stay at the end of it all.

She could escape with the herd, just like she did before. They would look for her, maybe think they lost her or that she died somehow. It was better than what she knew was coming. It was easier to defend themselves against a known enemy, if she lost control over herself when they are not prepared. She could do more damage than any herd.

Glenn and Maggie got a car and started to thin out the herd whatever way they could, leading walkers away from the farmhouse. T-Dog got the truck and lead walkers away from the farm while mowing them down. Jimmy went out to get the RV and prepare it to leave. Hershel stood in the yard shooting down whatever walkers got close. Inside, the rest got ready to evacuate the house. By searching for their children.

Carol was quick to find Sophia and Lori was unable to find Carl. Laura felt time slow down for a moment as Sophia and Carol followed Lori down the stairs as she called out for Carl. Sophia hadn't spoken yet, she was terrified and Lori's panic overpowered the shy little girl from telling them why she was hiding in the bathroom.

"What do I do?!" Laura could hear that from outside the house, Lori was screaming and all she could do is stare at the burning barn. It lit up fast, the dry wood burst into flames and was quickly on the verge of collapse.

"I checked the shed and I can't find him anywhere." Lori came out of the house, approaching Laura and the edge of the porch. Carol was close behind while Sophia had remained in the house with Beth and Patricia.

"He's not in the cellar or the attic." Carol was trying to help Lori best she could, but Carl was not in the house. "Why can't he listen for once!"

Lori and Carol stood in front of Laura, she did know what to do to help the women. "Okay, okay. If he followed his daddy, he went that way." Lori started to head out when Carol grabbed her, "No, you'll lead them right to him. We can't stay here!" She tried to convince the troubled woman.

"But that's my boy!"

"We're going to have to trust me. If we find him he's gonna need his mother, we got to go!" Carol started to head back to the house, urging Lori to follow her. "Get the others!"

Laura came up beside Lori, who aimed her pistol at the quickly approaching walkers. "Carl!" She was able to shoot a few down before Carol came back out with the rest of the group behind her. "Lori, Laura!"

She looked back, Laura took over taking down a few walkers making their way to them. "Hershel!" Lori leaned over the rail, "Hershel, it's time to go! Come on, now!" Lori smacked the post, "Hershel!" The older man did not respond, he was shooting down whatever came his way and Lori could not get his attention.

She spun back around and Laura stopped her, "Lori."

"We have to go." Lori insisted before Laura gave her a sad smile, "I'll find Carl. I promise."

The woman stared at Laura, "You have to come with us, we can't leave you here." Lori took another step, trying to take Laura with her.

"It's okay, I'll find Carl. I'll bring him back to you." Laura didn't give Lori the chance to argue and ran the way Lori pointed earlier. If Carl actually found Rick, they would both be in trouble now. Walkers were swarming the barn and the fields, Rick could not escape so many alone. Especially with Carl on him, he had to look out for them both and an army of the undead.

Lori and the others took the last cars out, T-Dog stopped by to get them and was met quickly with too many walkers. They surrounded the vehicle while Andrea raced off to help Carol who was cornered between walkers and a wall. She tried to fight them off and Andrea came in like a saving grace to Carol. She shot down the walkers and bought the woman time to escape.

Laura ran as fast as she could, her limbs still stiff and resistant to her; though that was wearing off quickly. She passed Hershel some time ago, the man was determined not to leave with the others.

She had to find Carl and get him back safely. She could not stay, but she would not let that boy die in a sea of walkers.

By the time she reached the edge of the woods, she saw a few walkers walking the opposite direction of all the fire and gunshots. They were following someone. She went ahead of them and there were many. Trying not to attract attention, she avoided shooting them down. If they were following Rick or Carl, they'd have enough problems by now.

At this point, she could smell the difference between human and undead. Ahead of her and not very far, were two distinct smells that stood out through all else. Even beyond the smell of rotting corpses.

When she saw Rick and Carl, she was relived. They were going slowly through the woods, trying to get passed countless walkers that surrounded them on all sides. He didn't want to fire his gun, the shot only brought more to catch them. She would bring them back, safely.

As she ran up to them, she got a face full of Rick's gun. The barrel aimed right at her head. She panicked and tried to slow down, to show that she wasn't a walker. Instead, she ended up slipping on the dense leaves and falling to the ground in front of them. "Rick, it's me! It's me! Don't shoot!" She raised her hands to stop him.

Rick's breath hitched as he grabbed her. "Laura, but you were... where's is everyone?" He didn't have time to reminisce; he had a job to protect his son. He needed to know where to go from here.

"They're leaving the farm, Glenn and Maggie took a car to draw walkers off, I don't know where everyone went though. Hershel's at the farmhouse. I think he's... ready to _go_." She tried to urge the meaning to him and he understood quickly.

"We won't let him. We have to get off the farm, now." He looked down to Carl, "Can you get us back, what you said happened with that walker. Just being near you the walker didn't go for Daryl, can you do that for us now?"

Laura thought about the walkers still not attacking her, so she did not see why it would not work. "I think, maybe. They're still not trying to go for me, I may be able to get you two through without them trying for both of you." She could see already the walkers that had not caught onto Rick and Carl were passing them by. It was already working.

"Good, let's go."

She nodded and tried to keep them close. With Rick in lead, if they remained close enough to Laura than the walkers tended not to notice what was going on. They were not credited with intelligence after all.

Rick kept them together, grabbed a hold on Carl most of all. He could not stand the idea of Carl being out here with him, there was too much going on and so little Rick could do to keep them safe. The walkers were relentless and Rick did not have all the ammo in the world. Carl was keeping up with them thankfully, he was not faltering when they told him what to do.

When they exited the woods and could see the farmhouse nearby, it was almost too sweet. Rick knew if they could make it to the house, they would be alright. There were still more cars fueled and ready to go, all they needed was one. Hershel was still up there and Rick was not going to leave him behind.

As they ran up, Rick caught sight of Hershel leaning over his gun as he reloaded. Leaving Carl with Laura, he ran up behind Hershel. A walker neared in on Hershel's back, he was oblivious to it and Rick arrived just in time. He aimed his pistol and fired. The walker fell not but a foot away from Hershel.

The man took a step back and saw Rick behind him.

"Where's Lori, did you see Lori?" Rick was coherent but Hershel was almost in a state of shock. "I don't know what happened, Rick. They just keep coming. It's like a plague, they're everywhere!"

"Lori! Did you see her!" Hershel shook his head, "No!"

Laura came up with Carl, the walkers behind them knew something was going on and began to make their way over. There was no way to thin their numbers, they were coming and it was time for them to go. "We have to go, find mom and the others."

"It's my farm!" Hershel pleaded, his family owned this farm for generations and he could not defend it any longer. "Not anymore!"

Laura brought Carl up with them to the car and got him to get in first. Rick forced Hershel in the back and went around to drive. Laura would assure they made it out, until then, she would help them. She got in the car beside Hershel and Rick was quick to take off, the tires throwing up rock and dirt as they made their escape.

The car rolled down the road as Laura watched the barn burn, Hershel was too shocked by the events to even try to realize what this all meant. The survival of their group was unknown and the farm was lost.

When Laura saw they were making it off the farm, she reached up to tap Rick's shoulder. He glanced behind to see her, "Stop the car, Rick."

He looked at her again, "Why, what is it?" He tried to find something to warrant this stop. Still, he hit the brakes and readied to take on another survivor. Instead, Laura opened the door and stepped out.

"Rick, I... keep them safe, alright?" Laura smiled at him, "Be safe, watch out for them; they'll need you now more than ever." Rick tried to catch up with what she was saying.

He saw the burning barn behind her and shook his head. "This place... it's gone. They've left by now, we have to go. Stay with us, Laura."

"I can't, you know why. It's only gotten worse." She heard the growls of the walkers behind the fence, they would push through eventually no matter how tough the fence line was. "I can't put you guys at risk knowingly. So go, keep them safe. And remember, tell Lori I kept my word."

"No, no, no! Laura! Don't do this! Laura-!" She shut the door and gave them a final wave. Carl was watching her out the window, Hershel couldn't understand what was going on either. She could barely hear Rick's calls through the car, he couldn't get out to bring her back and he knew it. She knew it, it was too dangerous for them all.

The walkers were already closing in on the car and Rick had no choice but to leave her there.

She watched the car take off without her, the group she came to love and care for. The people who took care of her. That was the last of them and she would not try to find them, not while her own mind frayed in two opposite directions. The pulling was destroying her; she refused to let it take them down with her.

Oddly, she felt a powerful pain in her heart. It wasn't beating anymore, her body finally died. The group was gone. Her family was leaving and she could not go with them. It was over for her, running with survivors, working to a greater good. She couldn't do that anymore, she had to stay alone from here on out.

It was too dangerous to be around the living anymore. They deserved to live and she only put that in harms way.

Rick was angry, lost; she would not go with them and he could not make her. He knew what she was scared of, it made sense. Only he wanted to help her overcome it, to be better than whatever it was trying to lure her away from them. In the moment he needed her most, he knew she would not follow him.

In a strange way it was a relief, the Voice, which had not spoken to her in some time since their struggle, was relaxing now. As if with the temptation gone, the Voice had nothing to threaten. She was free now, able to continue her life. In solitude or not, she may help the odd survivor if she ever finds them, but she will never stay.

She felt truly _free_ , if only for a moment.

Suddenly, through the rotting of the undead and the groans; there was a scream that tore through the burning night. Laura knew it was not the sound of a walker. She resisted, it was one of the group, for certain, but she had just left them. Someone was here with her, left behind and not by choice.

" _Shit._ " Laura growled, she could not leave them to die out here. She cared for them, to protect them she had left; now was not the time to go back. She steeled herself to leave, over the last week she felt this creeping walker side of her angling to take over. There was nothing more she could help with.

Save for this one person that they had missed.

Running along the fence, Laura came up to see a woman trying to dodge the walkers behind her. Rick was gone, Lori left with Carol, T-Dog picked them up, and Glenn and Maggie had left some time ago. Who could this possibly be?

Laura ran up behind them and, in order to save them, she jumped the woman from behind. She screamed even louder, but Laura covered her mouth with her hand to stop her and pulled her away from the walkers as best she could.

"Shh! Run with me, they'll ignore you if we can get away from these few." It was Carol, but how she was here baffled Laura. She knows that Lori and Carol left at the same time with T-Dog; what happened to end her up alone and chased by walkers was beyond her. "Come on, you have to do this."

Carol nodded and kept up with Laura, they made it away from the walkers rather quickly and soon came upon others. "Walk with me, act like you belong, do _not_ say a word, not even a little sound. Groan, moan, if you have to. They won't look at you if you're with me."

To her greatest credit, Carol listened and listened well. She immediately transitioned to acting like a walker, a limp, a groan, and she fit right in. Laura held the pistol ready to go just in case. It was impressive that Carol was so prepared for this, Laura almost didn't expect Carol to be able to do it so well. At least to the point that Laura was not concerned about making it out of the herd's path.

There was so much that had gone wrong so fast that Laura was unsure if she could keep grasp of it all. She would have to find a way to get Carol back to the group, somehow.

She had no idea where they were and her first priority was to get Carol out of the herd without being bitten. She hoped Sophia had made it with the others, she could not stand the idea of the little girl being stuck, lost in the hundreds of walkers.

Pulling Carol into the woods, she knew they would be in the clear soon. The walkers were all still heading towards the farm which meant that the forest on this side would quickly be ready for Laura and Carol to make a proper run for it. They had to put some distance between them and the farm before she could let Carol sit down.

It would not be easy, she knew Carol would be exhausted once they got through the last of the walkers.

Laura sighed and looked behind her to see the walkers with their backs to them. "Alright, time to run some. Hope you have good cardio, Carol." She had to push the woman a little further.

"To get out of here, absolutely." Carol held onto Laura for dear life and the two started to run away from the worst of it.

Looking at Carol, Laura couldn't help but wonder.

" _How the hell did I end up in this mess?_ "


	36. Calm after the Storm

When he heard the engines it was almost hard to believe.

There, through the sea of dead cars, was a leading biker, an SUV, and a pickup truck all making their way to the same spot. Rick did not want to fool himself, it was torture waiting to see who stepped out of those cars.

As he approached, Daryl had parked his bike near him. Rick greeted him first, shaking his hand as both a " _Glad you're alive._ " and " _Thank you, for bringing them back_."

When the truck stopped, Lori came running out of it to see Carl with Rick. "Oh thank god!" She latched onto Carl the same way Carol held onto Sophia when Laura brought her out of the barn. Rick was quickly there with her, worried that she had not made it off the farm. They held each other close and Lori cried over her son.

Out of the other cars came Beth and Maggie, who both raced to Hershel, embracing him as the last they saw of him he had been fighting off the walkers. Lori was unable to get him to go with them, they were sure they had lost him for good. Somehow though, Rick managed to force him off the farm so that he could see his daughters again.

T-Dog was leaning against the door of the truck, disbelief etched on his face as he was greeted by Glenn. The group was together again, after the herd ran through their home. It was a test of their ability and planning, but they had made it this far.

Rick pulled away from Lori and Carl, turning to Daryl. "Where'd you find everyone?" He had been in front, from what Rick could tell he was directing the others.

"Well he got his tail lights zigzaggin' all over the road, figured he gotta be Asian drivin' like that." Daryl leaned against the wagon behind them as Glenn gave him a look.

"Good one." He rolled his eyes at the hunter, he was not expecting a joke so quickly in the aftermath. Leave it to Daryl to make light at a time like this.

"Where's the rest of us?" He was counting them. So far he only saw ten people, as Sophia was hiding near Glenn and T-Dog. There were some people missing though.

"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick answered, he already knew there would be people who did not make it out. It was a bad situation and they were not prepared for it.

Lori stood up, looking to Rick. "Shane?" Rick only shook his head, he was not ready to explain it.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked, hoping someone had an idea. The group looked between themselves, but only T-Dog answered. "We saw her go down." T-Dog had a very distant look in his eyes.

"Patricia?" Hershel spoke worriedly, but his daughter replied first. "They got her too... Took her right from me." She broke into tears, "I was holdin' right onto her, daddy." Hershel only pulled her close, knowing his daughter just suffered quite the ordeal. "What about you, did you see Jimmy?"

"He was in the RV... It got overrun." Jimmy helped them escape the burning barn and paid with his life. Rick owed a lot to the young man, but was unable to ever make good on it.

Lori looked around, "Carol? She was with me, Beth, and Maggie but... we got separated. Anyone see her?"

The group shared a moment trying to listen for hope that someone found her, caught her. Instead, no one spoke up and they knew they lost another. Lori gave Sophia a sad look, "Come here baby."

Sophia was quick to respond, she came up and hugged Lori. No one knew what to say to the little girl.

"What about Laura? I saw her up in the house." Daryl asked, he cared about the group for certain, but Laura was his girl. He knew she was alive now, when he was in the farmhouse he saw her but was not able to take time to talk to her.

Rick paused and gave Daryl a sorrowful look. He shook his head, but that only seemed to inflame an argument.

"But... Walkers don't go for her, how'd she... not make it?" T-Dog asked, surprised by Rick's answer. Daryl was ready to ask the same until Rick let out a long sigh.

"She was with us for a while, found us when we were running from the barn fire." He looked down to Lori and Carl. "She told me to tell you that she kept her promise."

Lori's only reply was to frown and hold Carl even closer.

"What the hell does that mean? Don't matter if she gets bit, she don't turn. Why ain't she here if she was with you?" Daryl could understand if something happened or they lost sight of her, it happened to a lot of people back there. If she was with Rick, it did not make sense that she was not here now.

Hershel was the first to come forward, "She got in the car with us, but when we were leaving the farm... she got out. Said that Rick would understand."

Daryl gave Rick a livid look. "She did it on her own... she told me something that I don't have time to explain here."

"I'm goin' back for her and the others." Daryl was about to get on his bike when Rick stepped forward to stop him. "No, we can't."

Everyone looked at Rick incredulously, "We can't just leave 'em there." Lori sighed, "We don't even know if they're there..."

"They aren't there. There's no way they'd stay. They're either somewhere else or dead, but there's no way to find them." Rick already knew trying to go anywhere near that farm was a mistake. The others knew it too, even the highway was a dangerous place.

"So we're not even going to look?" Glenn didn't want to lose anyone else, if there was a chance they were alive.

"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawlin' all over here." Regardless of the possibility, Rick could not risk more lives on the off chance the others survived.

"I say we head East." T-Dog volunteered the idea, he was planning on it earlier until Lori convinced him to turn around.

"Stay off the main roads. The bigger the roads the more assholes like this one." Daryl got his crossbow off his bike and stepped around the group to aim at the walker stumbling up behind them. "I got him."

After the walker was down, the group agreed it was time to leave. Daryl was fighting to decide if he could go back, but he knew Laura could make it without him. He knew she could survive.

He just didn't want her to out there without him to watch her back. It was a loss, he felt it as real as he did when they told him Merle was cuffed to the roof in Atlanta.

Only this time he knew he could not go back, Atlanta was safe if they stayed quiet. The farm was not, it was covered in walkers and no amount of sneaking would get them through it.

Laura was on her own for now, Carol and Andrea too. As far as they knew. The could only hope they were all together so that they stood a better chance of survival.

* * *

Laura was sitting in a small consignment store with Carol, sleeping on a makeshift bed of clothes from around the shop. Carol was so exhausted from running she had begun to trip once they neared the town. She knew she could not force Carol to go any further. Thankfully the store had a small backroom that could be locked and a chair that she had Carol pop up against the doorknob.

The room was clear of walkers, there was not even a bloodstain in there. So instead of staying in the room with Carol, Laura kept in the store's main area to watch the road. They were still worried about Randall's gang; they had no idea how far or how close they were. Since Rick said they ran into his group in town, Laura was very uncomfortable staying here.

She had no idea what was out there and Carol... she was not incapable of defending herself, but Laura was capable of so much worse.

Carol would never survive on her own, it was not an insult against the woman. So few people could live alone in this new world. Walkers, other survivors; they were all threats of their own nature. Laura could not keep Carol with her forever, she would have to find the group somehow.

Only problem was that Laura had no idea where they were at this point and they would not know where to find them. It was too dangerous to come into town, there were walkers everywhere and the only reason they were safe was Laura's ability to go unnoticed through them. Carol was a good pretend walker though, it was easy getting away from the herd once Laura told Carol what to do.

She was a fast learner, she did not want to be eaten alive. Laura mused that there were so many ways to die, yet only one way to survive. She would have to find some way to teach Carol how to defend herself properly. The woman could fire a gun, but maybe she failed to see beyond that singular defense.

Laura had a gun and plenty of ammo with her. It was only to be used in an emergency though; it could put Carol's life at risk if Laura dared to use it without a worthy reason. There were too many walkers around for Laura to warrant any emergency worth using the gun now. They had no idea which direction the herd would be moving in. Laura's best guess is that they would follow the others, who made a lot of noise in their escape.

She had to find a way to keep Carol alive and bring her back to the group where she would be safer. Laura was not stupid, she knew that even with the group it was dangerous. No matter where they went, something would always be around the next corner waiting for them to let their guard down.

 _I'm here now and I'm waiting._ Laura groaned, the Voice had been particularly nasty since Carol had joined her. It was constantly trying to evoke the hunger again. She could feel it and it was painful, but it was dulled as Laura ate an old, dry piece of granola she had picked up in the store over. She only had a small bite of it, knowing that Carol would need it more than her.

Carol could not make it without food very long as they might have to do some more running. Laura could make it unnaturally long without food or water; she would save whatever sustenance she found at this point for Carol.

 _You need to eat too, it would feel so good to satisfy yourself. I promise you'll feel better for it._ The hunger stung even worse, Laura grabbed at her stomach, the stabbing feeling was no longer as tolerable as it had been. She felt the blade of hunger twisting in her gut and it made Laura gasp at the shock of it. _She can't fight you back, together, we are too much for any one person._

" _You seem to think that I've been listening to you._ " Laura felt unsure as to how much control she actually had, but with this gun at her side, even the Voice within her knew it could not press its luck. She was prepared to use it and the only thing between this hunger inside of her and Carol was Laura's own self-control.

The Voice backed down for now, it was waiting for a moment to make itself known. For now, Laura could deal with the pain so long as it meant Carol would make it back to her daughter.

She had no idea how Daryl was taking her missing. She wanted so badly to tell him why she was not there with him, what was happening to her. The danger she posed was not something that could just be _stopped_ it had to be treated with isolation. Laura's own punishment for her hunger was to starve it out and the Voice was not pleased with her approach.

Laura snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the door behind her open and out stepped Carol, looking like she had slept rather well. She stood up and came over to Carol, giving her a once over as she assessed Carol's readiness to move on.

"Do we need to go? I can't imagine this place is safe." Carol offered the idea ahead of Laura who looked almost incapable of speaking to the woman.

Perhaps it was because last night Laura was made to unwillingly choke Sophia until the girl ran away from her. Laura felt a more powerful guilt than the night Carol brought her food and thanked her for searching for Sophia. She had failed everyday until they discovered she was in the barn, but bringing her back felt like a great guilt was lifted.

It returned with force though, Laura could barely manage to utter a word to the unknowing mother.

"Laura, are you okay?" Carol came forward and placed a gentle hand on Laura's arm, who flinched at the contact. It was as if the closer Carol was to Laura, the harder it was to deny her hunger.

Laura nodded, she did not trust her voice. It was already later in the afternoon and it was time to leave the town, Laura assumed that if there was anywhere to meet up it would be at the highway with the supplies that was left for Sophia. It was the only landmark outside of the farm that they all knew about.

She could not speak to Carol yet, not until she knew how to explain herself.

Before they left the store, Laura grabbed coats and extra clothes as she knew it was going to get cold fast. Carol would need a lot of excess clothing to keep warm enough in the winter months. Laura had no idea how long it would take to find the others. It was a very real and disturbing possibility that they never found them. It could be that too many died at the farm or die out on the road; there was no sure answer.

Carol got the idea quickly and grabbed some more herself, folding and tying them up in a thin blanket that was hanging on the racks. Laura followed suit and tied hers in a blanket to carry easier. This was insurance for the future, though they had not a clue what it would mean for them as the days went by.

Carol kept close to Laura, but she was confused as to why the woman was not speaking. Once they exited the store, Carol knew she could not ask anything while there were walkers around. The town did not have many in it right now though Carol was still careful enough to try and be cautious of all surroundings.

She would ask why Laura was not speaking later.

Right now, Laura began to look for the signs for the road to take. It was not long before Laura recognized the pharmacy she and Glenn had gone into before and knew the direction they needed to go in.

Following the road, Laura had Carol remain at her side at all times. Walkers would be up and down the road, but with Laura it would not matter. So long as Carol did not get too far from her or make any non-walker sounds. Carol had been smart so far, but that did not mean she was impervious to mistakes. There was no way to account for everything.

* * *

It took quite some time before they reached the highway and even longer before they could see the dead cars. The little yellow car with the windshield painted as a sign for Sophia not far ahead.

From what they could both see there was no signs of walkers nearby. It was mostly clear though they would take their time just to be sure. As they passed the abandoned cars, Laura could see the area up ahead. The car was an older model and the paint on the windshield was almost completely worn off now.

"They were here!" Carol pointed to the blue truck, it had been at the farm house and was the truck T-Dog had been driving during the escape. Laura nodded to the woman as she tried to look around for any sign of them. As she expected, they were not here. Even if they stayed hours earlier they would still be too late to catch up with the others.

Approaching the truck, Laura felt the hood. "It's cold, they're long gone."

Carol opened the door and saw the keys still in the ignition. "Maybe we can take the truck to find them?"

Laura nodded as Carol tried to start the truck. It sparked and died before it ever started. Carol tried again, trying to gas it until the truck finally just stopped all together. "They must of siphoned the rest of the fuel in the truck... Not like there was much before." Laura patted the hood, they had all been low on fuel ever since they found the Greene farm.

"We're going to have to walk, aren't we?" Carol stepped out of the truck, it was useless to them now.

"Looks like it, I can't see another way." Laura saw that all the supplies on the hood of the yellow car left for Sophia was gone too. They were in a bad spot now. Carol couldn't go more than two days without food or water; she'd exhaust herself before they ever made it to the group. Where ever they were by now.

"They'll have made it miles from here by now, it'll take a long time to catch up." Carol pulled her shawl and crossed her arms, "How are we going to cover that much distance... There's so many walkers coming this way. They'll have followed the sounds they heard from the gunfire and the cars."

"Which will lead them directly to us on this highway..." Laura looked around, one way was the town and the other was unknown, "They had to have followed the road that way by now; it's the only way that we have not gone. It would be their only chance to get away from the herd."

Carol nodded and came up to Laura, "Should we start? It'll be a long time for just us to be out here as it is."

Laura stepped back from Carol, her voice hitched as she realized how close Carol was. Her stomach sharpened against her again, "Yeah... yeah, we should go now. We'll have to keep an eye out for a place to stay at night, we'll move whenever you're able."

"I won't keep us down for too long, only when I need to rest. It's going to be a long walk... I hope we do find them, someday."

Laura looked up to Carol, a sad look in her eyes. Carol was wondering if they would ever catch up with the group, to find her daughter. As fast as the realization came to Laura, she felt a deep sadness for Carol. It was a painful thought, to be unable to find them in this huge, walker-infested world. Laura had no idea how to actually find them.

She was no skilled tracker, she barely had any idea how to follow a trail. For the time being, Laura would have to try and use what skills she had to reunite Carol with Sophia.

It was a terrible fright they experienced when the walkers flooded the farm; Laura wanted to ask Carol if she ever thought she would even survive at that point. Maybe she did, but when she screamed, running from the walkers, Laura seriously doubted it. The assuredness of death would never be an easy topic.

"We should go, it's not safe here." Carol spoke first, she was keen on finding her daughter though. She would not give up so easily, not after everything she had suffered so far.

Laura turned to the road they were about to take, the large expanse of clear road before them. She looked down for a moment and saw a walker, dead on the road. It had been killed, probably by the group when they were here. Daryl would have dealt with it, the small shot in the head told her she was right. They would not risk a gunshot, the crossbow was the only weapon quiet enough to kill a walker at a range.

She wanted to smile at the thought, it meant Daryl had made it off the farm and was safe with the group. He was capable enough to survive alone, yet she was still relieved to know he be alright.

It was a foolish thing to worry about the hunter in Laura's mind. She knew he could make it, with or without the group. She just felt like being worried sometimes, even if it was pointless.

With a deep and pained sigh, Laura moved on with Carol on her heels. It would not be easy to make it out here, through all the struggles they had faced. This would be hard, Carol would most likely spend many nights hungry. Laura wished there was a way to make it easier, to just _know_ where the others had gone so that they at least had an end destination.

There was no promise that they would ever find them or that, even if they did, that the group would be alive. So many things could go wrong when they around out in the open.


	37. Corruption

_**Two months later...** _

Laura sat at the fire, it was small and built inside a small fireplace. It was all they could manage, but it was warmer than sitting outside in the cold. She figured it was dangerous inside this shelter, other people could find it easy, walkers might hear them. Though it was only for a moment to give Carol a much needed break.

Carol wore a large coat at all times now, it was lined with fur and did well to keep her warm while the cold wind outside was kept at bay. Usually they would have to build a fire outside in the woods, walkers never really bothered them much, but Carol was always with Laura and was kept safe from their hunger.

The hunger Laura was worried about more so was her own. Just as she had started to put on weight to cover her bones, she had lost it. Over the last two months Laura had turned into more of a walker than she ever realized she could. Her skin no longer was natural with a slight of blue, she was completely corpse-blue. Her hair went flat and lost its shine. Her nails were longer than before and capable of doing some level of damage in a fight now.

Laura knew she looked sickly and dangerous to any survivor. No one would be able to tell her between a walker anymore, even she struggled with it. She knew Carol was worried, she would give her a motherly look every now and then.

She had not let Carol near her since they started this journey. She couldn't, it was too risky. The hunger was only getting worse as the time went on and Carol's attempts to be close to Laura did not help. No matter how bad it got, she could not tell Carol yet. She could not bear the woman being worried about being eaten by the only other person she had right now.

It hurt to know that she was a risk to Carol and the others. They would not be safe when she watched them, when she was near. Carol did not understand yet, Laura would keep her in the dark as long as she could so that, in the end, Carol would not know about this suffering. She would want to help make it better, but there was nothing to be done.

Laura loved the woman who slept quietly on the far side of the room. She was a good person, a kind survivor in this hellish landscape. Whatever came to them, Laura wanted to protect her. In the end, what Carol wanted most was to have her daughter around and Laura knew it. She missed Sophia so much, Carol would try to resist the tears when she thought about it; about how they would ever find the group.

With the distance they covered, Laura still had no idea if this was the right direction. There were walkers, woods, and the occasional building to shelter them. They managed to scrape up some food from picnic sights and abandoned buildings along the way. A small family-owned gas station proved to be the greatest source they had yet to come across.

Laura now carried a hooded long coat and a dufflebag slung across her back. The pistol she carried so far was in order, she had only used it once so far. Carol and Laura both carried melee weapons now, it was a safer, quieter option.

She always kept the machete in her hand and Carol had a hatchet and a hunting knife. It was for all situations, walkers were easier to take down if they did not know you were coming. So in the heat of it all, Laura had shown Carol how to handle herself in a situation where avoiding walkers was not an option.

Sometimes there would be too many and Laura could not keep Carol safe from them all. A herd packed tight around a fence that they had to go through for instance. It was tricky, Carol's pant leg had gotten stuck and Laura ended up cutting the piece off so that they could run for it. Carol handled herself well and did not panic. The walkers were down and they were in the clear soon after it.

Right now though, there were only a few stragglers hanging around outside the house. Laura and Carol had already cleared every inch of the building before they sat down to rest. Carol was fast asleep once the fire was started, the woman had done so much on foot travelling that Laura was sure she would pass out at any minute of these days.

Yet she held on tightly to the hope of finding her daughter again. Laura respected that and only worried about whether or not she could actually get Carol back. The older woman seemed not to doubt this either, it was baffling to Laura.

Laura looked outside, more walkers were approaching. She sighed and stood up. Stepping across the creaky floor, Laura tapped Carol. After a quick moment, the woman stirred to see Laura standing above her, a serious look on her face. "It's time to go, they're coming."

A tired groan from Carol and she pushed herself up. Laura turned back to the fireplace, she would leave it going. It would attract some walkers and maybe slow them down for a bit.

Laura went around through the hallway with Carol running up behind her. Before they left, Laura grabbed the old dead toaster from the kitchen and Carol stayed by the back door. "Get ready." Carol put her hand on the doorknob, ready to run.

Chucking the toaster out the front window, the walkers started their path to the house. Laura rushed up behind Carol, slamming the back door behind her as they fled into the woods again. Giving something for the herd to investigate always gave them the time they needed to get away safely. It was better than nothing even though it would only slow them down for a few hours.

As they broke through the other side of the woods, they were met with the road again. No walkers as far as they saw. Laura was leading Carol down the highway again, hoping to find something that suggested the others came through this area. As per usual though, there was nothing moved. The derelict cars were still covered in dirt and remained untouched.

Laura wondered that, if the others came this way, how come they passed so many cars without checking them? Laura and Carol had found food and even water bottles inside some of them, it was not often, but it was enough to keep them going. That little gas station was a goldmine though, at least, comparative to the rest of their scavenges.

They were carrying several boxes of dried goods, sealed and canned food. They managed to get in the back after breaking the lock and found a mini-fridge with water in it. Ignoring the stench of the other, bad food in it of course.

"Laura." Carol interrupted Laura's thoughts, the woman behind her had an intuitive look on her face. Laura just glanced to her, she was busy keeping an eye out. "What's happened to you?"

She blinked, she had asked the same to Rick. Only now, whatever was changing Laura, had already come. She looked away from Carol; there was no answer fitting enough.

"You don't talk anymore." Carol spoke softly, an obvious sadness in her voice. "I've tried to understand, with the farm... Daryl. I just... I need you to come back to me." It was sorrow and Laura felt a pain in her chest grow as Carol spoke to her. As much as Laura cared about Carol, there was nothing more powerful than Carol's gratefulness to Laura for bringing Sophia back.

"I miss you, like I miss the others. You always have this... look on your face. Like you're thinking about something bad all the time, you just... you've changed so much. I don't even recognize you anymore." Carol was watching the back of Laura's head as they walked on. There was no reply, no acknowledgement from Laura that she was listening.

She heard Carol let out a deep breath she had been holding. "Every night we sit around a fire, just staring at it. We'll find them, you know that right? We'll see them again."

Laura turned her eyes to the road at her feet. She had many doubts, there was no way to be certain.

"Laura... please, just talk to me sometime? I... Andrea told me about-" Laura stopped dead still, " _Did Andrea really?_ " She gulped, she did not want people to look at her like that. She was fine now, Laura did not even wear that old leg brace anymore. She was completely capable of defending herself now, no more relying on that scrap of metal.

But she refused to be seen as a damaged victim. She suffered her first few months alone, but she had made it out and enjoyed her time with the group. Carol was trying to figure out what was keeping Laura and she was pulling at straws.

"I'm just... I'm sorry that happened to you." Carol could sense the shift in Laura's mood, she was rather good at recognizing other peoples temperaments and when they changed. "I don't want you to think that- I won't let anything happen to you out here, I can defend myself and watch out for you too. I don't want you to be scared."

"Carol..." Laura's voice was on edge for certain, she just didn't understand why Laura was this way. She did not want to hear about her time with the men in Atlanta, it was personal and Laura was moving on. There were more important things to do, such as keeping Carol alive. "I... It's not that."

"Than what is it? Please talk to me. We've been on the road for months and I can barely get anything out of you. Frankly- well, frankly I'm tired of being alone out here." Carol was upset now, not a lot, but she was pushing for Laura to explain herself to some degree. All that went through Laura's head to say is; " _Part of me wants to kill and eat you, sorry about that!_ "

She dared not be so casual with this though. Laura was stressed out, ever since they left the town she has had to use an increasing amount of self-control just to not hurt Carol. "It's not that- I'm fine. We just need to keep moving."

"Laura, please. Please just... tell me why you won't talk to me. Like we used to or like you do with Rick. We're all we have out here and I feel like you've just become a brick wall." Carol put her hand on Laura's shoulder, "Just tell me, if nothing else; why won't you talk to me?"

Laura sneered, "I can't- I just can't-"

"Can't what, Laura? I want you back, with me. Are you afraid of something? Are you tired or sick?" Carol insisted as she flustered over Laura.

"No- I'm- Dammit, Carol; I can't tell you." Laura bit her tongue as Carol gave her an offended look, she didn't mean to insult Carol. She was not saying she couldn't for a reason other than to protect the woman.

"Can't tell me... why not? I'm not stupid, I'm can take it. Just tell me, why don't you trust me?" She released Laura's shoulder and, through the woman's pleas, Laura put her hand up to her face.

"Because I can't stop it, Carol..." She looked away, trying to keep herself locked away from Carol who was not accepting this attempt for distance.

"Then let me help, I can do it. Trust me, _please_. I can take care of us too, you're not the only one." Carol took another few steps towards Laura, who shook her head.

"Carol... I can't- I mean. I've been trying to find a way to tell you, but I just didn't want you to worry." She kept space between them both, unsure of how well she could keep herself at bay. "I'm not doing alright here, Carol. I... I left the group."

Carol stood still as stone, "You what? Why?"

"I can't stay with them anymore, I couldn't. Not knowing that... I could hurt them." Laura stepped back from Carol again, not looking up to see the confusion on Carol's face.

"What do you mean? Why would you hurt anyone?" She was such a worrisome woman. Cautious, but protected at all times if she could manage it. Carol did not understand and Laura almost did not want her to. It was such a terrifying prospect that any of the group could face Laura as an enemy.

"I can't... control myself sometimes. I'm losing the part of me that's still human." Laura had a hitch in her voice, she had to help Carol and yet she feared the scorn and rejection of her makeshift-survival family.

Carol's mouth hung open, trying to form words of denial. Laura was claiming to be unsafe, but Carol had never seen anything from Laura except friendliness and how much she wanted to help them. When she first joined them, it did appear to be a difficult for her to try and fit in. Carol would admit that she never really looked into their new member a lot back then.

Once she came out of her shell though, Laura quickly did all she could to be an asset to the group. She volunteered for anything she could, went hunting for food, learned how to handle the people they cared about to keep them in good spirits. Laura was just like the others, she cared and to Carol, she was a good person.

"How can that happen? You said, before, that you didn't... want to hurt people." Carol was not sure if she had to stand away from Laura or get closer to her. There was just too many questions surrounding the idea of the walkers, the science behind it was lost to them. Whatever caused it was never made clear and its effects never truly known.

"I don't..." Laura choked down her frustration, "I don't know. I just... I have been. It's getting harder and harder as time goes on. Everyday it's worse and I feel it. I can feel it even now, trying to get out of me. I told Rick before the herd came. I was scared that I couldn't stop myself from hurting any of you. I didn't want to, I still don't want to. It's just... it hurts so much now."

Carol felt sorry for Laura, not pity, but the knowledge that she was in pain made her want to comfort the blue-skinned woman. The moment she tried though, Laura jumped back.

"Just... please don't. I can't tell you how thin I'm stretched now. I can control it for now, I don't know for how long. I won't let myself hurt you, Carol." Laura finally stared at the concerned woman's eyes. "I wouldn't, not while I'm still alive in here. I'd... stop myself." Carol's eyes glanced down to the gun on Laura's waist and she felt her breath quicken. Laura would not allow her hunger to overpower Carol, she would end it before it began.

"Laura, I'm so sorry." Carol was about in tears. Laura was their friend, part of the family group they had made for themselves. It was hurting Carol just to listen to how far down Laura was falling. "Is there anything I can do? I had no idea, we all thought that you were just... you."

The walker-esque woman only raised her hand. "Try not to... be too close. It's harder if you're too near. I'm trying to keep myself together, Carol. I-" She gave Carol a begging look, "I think I hurt Sophia..."

"What?" Carol was quick to pick up on that though, Sophia was her shining light in this infected world. "What... did you do?"

Laura knew her body was not working, but she felt the crushing weight of guilt on her heart. "I... when I woke up. I wasn't in control, I lost it. Sophia cut the ties that held me down and... I..." She ran her hand through her hair, pulling through the knots viciously. "I grabbed her... by the neck. I couldn't control myself, but she wasn't... I dropped her and fell down the stairs. When I got up, I was back and then... you guys come in the door."

For moment, Laura wasn't sure if Carol was going to do something drastic. Laura had harmed Sophia, probably bruised her neck which the others would have seen by now. Every time Laura thought about it her hands shook and she wanted nothing more than to hide. She had done something detestable to an innocent girl, something Laura never was capable of without this new part of her.

"I can't... I'm just sorry. I couldn't stop it, I lost myself. I fought for it though and when I stopped, I knew I couldn't stay any longer. I was a danger to the group." Laura ran an angry hand over her face, wiping away the tears she felt burning down her face. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that I know. I saw it happening and I tried... but it was too late. I hurt her and I can't ever change that."

Carol had a lump in her throat, she did not even notice that Sophia was holding something like that. She had fetched her from upstairs, but she thought she was hiding in the bathroom from all the noise and worry about Randall and the herd. Sophia wasn't scared of that, Carol had no time to explain to Sophia what was happening anyways. She was with Carl upstairs, where she had told her to go.

Sophia was hiding from Laura.

"Laura..."

The older woman came up to Laura, who resisted any hunger she felt for this moment. She knew she had done something terrible to this woman's daughter; letting Carol through her defenses for this was the least she could do to make up for it.

"I'm sorry." She offered again, but was stopped by Carol shushing her.

"It's alright. I may not understand, but..." Carol looked down to Laura's own healing throat and the bruises still evident on her face. "You told us a lot about you. About what happened to you. I don't think I could believe that you would ever hurt a child knowing what it felt like to be in that position. That doesn't mean I understand though. I don't. I just can't bring myself to accuse you of something I know you would not do."

Carol was placing a lot of trust in Laura. From her point of view, Laura had given Sophia back to her when she could have just ignored that part of her. She was beaten by Shane more than once. Explained the experiments done on her while she was alive. Andrea told her about the men in Atlanta. Through it all, Carol could not see how someone who had always been on the receiving end could turn around and do it to someone else.

Laura was so skittish when she first joined the group. Carol would have related her to a mouse back then, but she had really stepped out of her comfort zone in the last few weeks which made her happy to see. The pain they all struggled with, before and during the infection, was always clear on how the group acted. Laura was just too scarred to trust them easily and when she did come around, Carol saw how alike they had been. At the farmhouse, Carol felt _capable_ and free. The walkers might still want to kill them, but her beatings had ended.

Laura reminded her so much of herself when she lived under her husbands shadow. Now they were both out in the open and they could fend for themselves. Carol could only imagine what her daughter had felt when her friend turned on her. It was not something Carol could help now; the only thing she could do it find the group and comfort her daughter.

Through all of this, Laura was too close and had shown too much kindness to be a vicious person.

"Carol... I would _never_ hurt anyone, especially Sophia or Carl. I couldn't control my actions, the hunger... it's back and I wasn't me anymore." Laura collapsed onto Carol's shoulder, she knew she shouldn't be doing this; it was too close. She felt so guilty for that look on Sophia's face when she realized what was happening, it broke Laura's heart.

Carol held her close, "Shh, it's okay. We'll make it back to them and you can apologize to Sophia yourself."

Laura pulled back, "I can't go to them, even if we find them. I'm taking you to them... I won't be able to stay with them like I did before." All Carol did was smile, though she was having a hard time trying to rationalize everything in her head.

"We'll figure this out, Laura. You won't be alone again. We won't let you go without a fight." Carol let out a shaky deep breath, "Come on now, we still have a lot of ground to cover."

All Laura managed to do is nod. She knew Carol was upset about Sophia and what happened, but Carol knew Laura better than to assume she would just go around hurting children. This would not be solved easily though, she would never be able to stay with the living for long again. Not after everything.

* * *

_**One week later...** _

It had never been easy out on the road. Carol had to take it easy a lot when the rations were low and now that she knew about Laura; it was even more of a safety concern for Carol to know how to fight back against people.

The dead were unintelligent and often shambled in all sorts of objects, getting close to kill them was not really hard. However, there was a difference between fighting a few walkers off and having to defend themselves against another living person. Sometimes Laura worried that Carol was too comfortable with their life on the road so far, as if the few times they ever did have to fight a walker, was diminishing the fact that Carol was always in extreme danger out here.

This is why Laura was still with her sitting here at the fire between them as they had done almost every night. Even though Laura was as much a danger to Carol as the rest of the walkers now. She restrained herself, always kept a close eye on herself.

The Voice inside Laura's head was also smart, it was not the brainless zombie that the living had come to understand. Not this one, Laura feared of becoming a new kind of walker; capable of hunting the living instead of just shuffling at them. There was always a crippling fear that Laura had when she thought about Carol out in the open like this.

In Laura's head, she knew the Voice had worked out how to go about it. Carol was armed, but she had to sleep sometime and Laura was on constant watch. That one night at the farm was not her sleeping, her body had just died and this unfortunately meant that the Voice had only gotten worse. She could tell between her thoughts and the Voice's own ideas though, there was no way the Voice could trick her into believing something that was not true anymore.

Somehow, that part of the Voice's control died and was replaced by physical strength. Neither option was good or bad, but Laura would prefer that the Voice messed with her memory still and never got the ability to cause harm to her friends. It would make these last few months much easier.

As they traveled though, Laura noticed that the Voice had rarely spoken to her the way it used to. Most of the time it just stayed silent, sending the hunger pain when she looked at Carol or was close to her. It was trying to torture her into submission, to drive her into madness trying to live with the hunger. It was not working, but it did cause Laura quite a bit of pain.

Carol knew about this now and she was careful about where she was to Laura. Regardless of the struggles they both faced to find the rest of their group and the difficulty Carol and Laura experienced as they both tried to figure out Laura's tolerance levels; Carol still wanted to help Laura and possibly gave her too much freedom as they traveled together.

Laura almost viewed this as a weakness on Carol's part, but she realized it was just Carol trying to be considerate. She was not treating Laura like a dangerous animal, she was letting Laura try to work this problem out before she acted on anything. It was kind and Laura did not know how long she could keep it up.

"Up ahead." Laura's voice went mostly unused and started to sound huskier, it was quiet and they never spoke loudly out here. Laura pointed to a two storey building through some trees. It had a porch both upstairs and downstairs, it could help keep an eye out for any walkers or survivors that made their way to the building. They would just have to be careful about it.

Carol followed intently behind Laura as they made their way to the dilapidated old home. It looked like there had been a fence around it at one point, the metal wire fence was hidden beneath the fall leaves. Laura stepped on a piece and it shook under their feet, revealing that something had tore down this fence months ago, as it began to rust. This place was abandoned before walkers appeared, it was unfit to live it.

As they approached the door, Laura could see a paper slip nailed to the door. It was condemned for poor structure, something about this house was unstable. They would only need it for one night.

Laura tried to open the door, but it had been deadlocked shut. Heaving an annoyed sigh, Laura went around to check for unlocked windows, but it had been secured tightly.

Taking off her coat, she wrapped her hand in the thick jacket and punched a window open. The shatter would attract walkers if there were any nearby, though Laura and Carol seemed to be in luck as they had not seen any as of yet.

She reached up to flick the latch open and slide the window up. Careful of the glass on the inside of the window, Laura stepped through. Thankfully, it had been a rather large window and was easy to enter through. Holding out her hand, Laura reached to help Carol inside. Who tentatively made her way through the open window as well.

Laura's grip increased a little, her stomach growled quietly. She released Carol's hand immediately though Carol did not hear her hungry growl. When Carol was inside, Laura closed the window and latched it locked again in the off chance something did try to get through. The broken window would still be a way in for other people, but she'd be able to keep an eye out. The broken glass inside would be an alarm if someone did try to sneak in.

They pulled out their weapons respectively and went around to check the house, Laura would check the upstairs and Carol covered the downstairs. They had been able to clear out more places the same way and Carol proved effective in this measure so Laura would trust her to be sure. After all, it would not be Laura who would be bitten. Carol was thorough just as she needed to be and could deal with a walker if she came across one.

Though as Laura checked the rooms, it looked like nothing had been in this house for a very long time. Aside from the dust collection on everything, most of the furniture had been moved out of the house and the rest was covered with white sheets. Laura had been right, aside from the notice on the door suggesting so, there was no one in this house even before the outbreak.

When they were done, Carol came up stairs with Laura. She watched carefully where Laura was and never snuck up on her; Carol had her own concerns about Laura's condition.

"Come on, you need rest." Laura gestured to Carol, offering only a tired smile that did not reach her eyes. Carol came up behind her, it was the bedroom with a door out to the second floor porch. It would serve their purpose tonight. "Sleep in here, I got watch."

Laura always had watch, she just liked to say it to reassure Carol who knew Laura would not fail on watch. She was awake all times of the day and night, she never tired out. This was proving useful though Carol would admit that she felt a little guilty that Laura could not rest like she could. It was not in human nature to stay awake all the time, sometimes Laura thought it would be nice to sleep again.

Then she remembered that the undead were hunting Carol and the group. She knows why it was fortunate for them both that Laura did not have to sleep; it was safer for them both.

As Carol threw down her pack and investigated the bed, she found it was covered in a heavy layer of dirt like everything else in the house.

Laura watched her as she grabbed the white sheet on top of the bed and shook it out. Dust flew to every corner of the room, the cloud hit them both instantly. The two went into a coughing fit and Carol continued until the sheet seemed clean enough to sleep on well.

The two continued to cough and try to fan away the dust which obscured the entire room with thick grey dirt. Laura blew what dust she could from away from her face and out of her mouth before developing a sneezing fit too. "Jeez, Carol!" She laughed, still coughing away the dust. She opened the door to the porch, hoping to air out the room.

Carol struggled her own laughter through her coughs. "I didn't think-" She tried to wipe dust off her face, "-there was that much!" She giggled, the dust was settling now. Laura stepped onto the porch, taking in a breath of the cold, fresh air.

"Sorry!" Carol laughed as she reached the porch too, waiting for the room to clear. Taking in a deep breath of clean air, their coughs died down until they just had to clear their throats. "It was just so dirty, I thought it would help and it looked harmless enough!"

Laura smiled at her, "This house has been empty for a long, long time. I'm sure most of the house is made out of dust now."

Carol looked to Laura who was leaning on the railing of the porch. She felt a strong need to speak to her almost everyday, but she had no idea what to say. "Laura...?" She caught her attention easily, just could never keep it for long.

Laura turned to see Carol eyeing her cautiously. She did not reply, just let Carol know that she was listening.

"It's going to be alright. You'll see." The kindly woman offered Laura a bittersweet smile, she knew she could not touch Laura much anymore. Instead of trying to keep Laura's attention, Carol turned to go back inside to sleep. It was cold and late, they would have to leave early in the morning again.

Carol closed the door from the hallway to the bedroom and locked it. There was no chair in the room, but there was a nightstand that she put in front of the door. It would not stop intruders, but it would help to alert them if anything tried to get in.

As Carol laid down to rest, Laura wanted to badly for Carol's deepest hopes to be true. Laura was aware that Carol thought they could fix her, to help repair whatever part of her stopped working and make her as human as she ever was.

Andrea once told Laura that she used to call people _humans_ instead of just other people. Laura did not feel as though she was different from walkers and did not fit into the category of human. It was a struggle no doubt, but Laura realizes that she had been wrong. She was still human back then, capable of reasonable thought and self-preservation like anyone.

That all changed though, she knew she was an odd one out, but she did belong with them at the time. If she had known then what she knew now, Laura would have spent more time with them; just being near them to be a part of their lives.

It could not be like that anymore. Even now, as Laura overlooked the house and the trees surrounding them, she could feel a violent side to her. It wanted to rip and tear and shred, to hunt and eat whatever came her way. She knew how too, the lessons she had been taught were doing her well. Her skills in tracking and hunting had only improved over the last few weeks; even without a crossbow to hunt, she could still manage it.

Laura was faster, more aware than she had ever been. Before her senses had been sharpened, she would relate it to a heightened sensitivity. Now, through it all, Laura could feel how acute her senses had become. She could hear animals in the bushes, the creaking of the house, she could tell even from a distance where that single singing bird was right down to what tree and what branch it was sitting on.

The world around her was slowing down and she did not know whether to be scared or take advantage of it. She feared that if she did try to use all the tools at her new arsenal, that she would begin to slip down the path that the Voice wanted her to go down. Part of herself was wrapped up, bound as if with a ball and chain. It would not stop it, but it would slow it down.

At least until they found the others, after that Laura could let herself go. Almost like releasing a wild animal; she would just bolt off and accept that this was what she turned into. She was not human for much longer, she held onto it so hard because Carol needed her. Laura was ready to give the fight up and embrace a new kind of survival.

Though as she thought more on it so did more of these senses make themselves known. Laura just noticed she could hear Carol's breathing down to the second, she could hear her heart beating as she focused harder on the sound. The smell of Carol's jacket, of her shirt and hair, to the heat of her skin and sweat. Had she been more aware of herself, Laura might have caught her turning in the direction of Carol's sleeping form.

The white sheet and wool blanket they had kept with them may have insulated Carol from the cold outside, but it did nothing to stop the unique scent that she emitted. Laura was never a person to drink or have an addiction of any sort, legal or not, but the smell enraptured her mind. It made her hunger cease, but not her willingness to satisfy the hunger.

For a moment, Laura's body coiled up, the muscles beneath the skin tense and her steps meticulous. She did not make a sound as she approached, gently moving the glass door out of her way as she entered the bedroom.

Her mouth was dry; she licked her lips and ran her tongue across her teeth. Her jaw muscles were clenching, twitching as they prepared for chewing. Laura's mind was blank, all there was is the smell of Carol in the room; human meat. It overpowered everything else, not even the sweet smell of the pine trees outside or the cedar wood of the dresser beside her could even influence the stench.

It stood out so strongly, Laura wondered how she never noticed it before.

The floor creaked beneath her foot, it was unintended, an accident. It did not stir the human on the bed, but it did stir Laura's mind. The smell was so strong, she could not wait to taste the source. Her mouth was watering and her the painful hunger in her stomach flared to life. She needed to eat, she was _so_ hungry.

A gun cocked next to her temple, Laura's finger was on the trigger. She fought back and was doing what she could. Carol was on the bed sleeping soundly, she never heard a thing.

The only thing that Laura did was put her own pistol to her head. It was a threat and brought her back to life; sobered her up even while the smell was still in the air it had diminished significantly.

She did not realized she was crouched down until she finally straightened up. Laura carefully, with the gun still to her own head, walked back outside and closed the glass door leading to the bedroom. It was too much, it was too close this time. She had never experienced a feeling so strong in her life like the need to hunt down that smell. It was delicious, like all of her dreams of food and thirst had come straight to her.

Laura slid down on the wall next to the doors, she would not remove the gun from her own head all night. It was the only thing keeping her between Carol and her hunger now.

There was no parting between Laura and her walker side anymore, they were joining and Carol was stuck at the worst possible place. Laura would not hurt Carol without a fight though.

So as she sat in the cold all night, Laura considered how long she would have to watch Carol sleep while she put the barrel of a gun to her own head just so Carol would not have to sleep wondering if that night would be the night Laura snapped.

Some part of her still recognized the gun as a stopping force without reason. All it had to do was listen to Laura and the gun would remain docile; push Laura and there would be nothing anymore.

There she stayed all night, the cool barrel pressed firmly to her head. Laura had to stick around though, she needed to help Carol. " _It will keep Carol safe..._ " Laura chanted, " _Do it for her._ "


	38. Corrosion

"Laura!"

She heard Carol gasp her name, though Laura was too far in her own thoughts to have noticed the woman's approach. She was still sitting with the gun cocked and pressed against her head.

Carol tried to come forward to take the gun away from Laura, but Laura only held her other hand up to stop her. "Don't... I'm losing myself, I'm getting weaker."

"That's not true, you'll be fine!" She cried, Laura could see her eyes turning red. It must be quite a sight to see Laura with the pistol to her own head; no wonder Carol was so frightened. Laura was no trying to kill herself now, she just wanted to give herself the ultimatum. Hurt Carol and Laura will shoot herself. It was only to stop a painful end for Carol though.

Laura stood up, with Carol now awake and able to defend herself, Laura did not feel as compelled by her instincts to hunt her. So she holstered the gun in her belt. "I can't risk hurting you Carol... Keep your weapon at the ready in case I-" She gave the older woman a sad look, it was hard to finish that sentence.

"I don't need it, you wouldn't do that." Carol tried again to try and comfort Laura, but the dark haired woman recoiled from her touch. Carol would not tell Laura, who was staying here and struggling for Carol, but she did feel awfully alone even while Laura stood beside her. "... I don't think I could hurt you, Laura. I care for you, you're one of us."

"I _was_ one of you." Laura corrected, almost emitting a sad growl in her voice. It was regretful and Laura tried to hide how different she had become in the last few weeks. "You have to. If I turn against you, you _have_ to."

Laura took the hatchet Carol carried and pushed it to her chest, forcing Carol to grab it. "Remember, keep it in hand. Just in case." Laura dropped her hands and Carol held onto the hatchet, there was no questions about it. Laura would not let Carol progress with her until she had that hatchet in hand. Laura could bite her and Carol would be fine, but that did not mean Laura could stop herself at that point.

"Come on, we have to leave now." It was light out again, safer to travel. So Laura grabbed the pack from the bedroom and handed it back to Carol.

Moving the nightstand out from in front of the door, she slowly opened it just to be sure nothing had made it in the house overnight. With no sounds from the house, Laura felt it safe enough to continue. Carefully, she made her way downstairs, still just watching the house to ensure there was no risk to either of them. The window was still locked and closed, with nothing else in the house open Laura felt they had made it through the night without any danger.

Aside from Laura herself, of course.

She unlocked the front door and let Carol out. Pushing the door quietly shut, they went back to the road to follow the invisible trail that Laura hoped meant they were heading in the right direction. There was no telling if the group had even gone in this direction. The road was clear though, but there were no dead walkers anywhere to even show survivors came through.

It also meant that, had they gone in this direction, they were still alive. To some degree anyways. They knew the group was out there, just not who survived and who was still alive while they had been traveling. Laura was not looking forward to finding out, if she ever did.

There was this feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Laura knew that she had to stay with Carol until they found the group, at which point Laura would deliver Carol to them safe and sound before she left the group, Carol, and went to make her own way. However, in the even that they never find the group, or they do and something terrible had happened to them, Laura would not be able to stay with Carol forever.

They were on borrowed time. Laura knew the feeling was easing its way into her mind, the crippling fear of actually killing and eating someone. The drive to do it was not overpowering her yet, though it would in time. While it definitely made itself known to both of them, Laura felt this ache in the back of her head that she knew was the instinct to hunt. It was base and animalistic, but it was there.

This meant that eventually, no matter if they discovered where or what happened to the group; Laura would have to leave Carol sometime. Laura already knew that the hunger inside of her was growing rapidly, that her previous life with the group was no longer possible; it was how long she had until the Laura they knew was completely gone and the Voice she heard inside of her engulfed her old personality.

Alone in this world as someone without Laura's walker likeness... Carol would not survive against the infinite walkers without someone to watch her back. That is, if she does not run into other unfriendly survivors.

Laura made up her mind that she would just have to accept that she was stuck protecting Carol until they found someone to help her. After that, Laura would leave and they would both be better for it. Laura would not have to worry about hurting anyone and Carol would be able to sleep at night without having to worry about Laura harming her or walkers sneaking up on her.

It would be better, safer; Laura would do anything to get Carol to whatever point that was in the future.

For now, when Carol goes to sleep, Laura would sit up with a gun to her head in the off chance that she is unable to stop herself. If that day comes, Carol would just have to understand. It was either Carol or Laura at this point and as far as Laura was concerned, Carol was more important.

* * *

They had been on the road for a few hours now, Carol was getting sore and Laura knew it. The more distance they could fit into a day the better, it meant they would be closer to their ultimate goal. Occasionally they did have to stop so that Carol could catch her breath, rest her legs, and eat something to keep her energy up. A small, insignificant part of Carol wanted to have Laura's unlimited supply of energy and ability not to have to sleep.

If she did, there was a very real chance that they would have found the others by now. It was unavoidable though, Carol could not change how human she was. Even through all the hiking they did, Carol pushed herself harder everyday so that they would make more progress and Carol could sleep well at night knowing they had a full day.

For now, Laura kept watch while Carol sat on one of the guardrails on the edge of the highway. There were a few cars, but Laura could not leave the point of sight from Carol. It was always too risky wandering far from Carol; Laura was her guard dog really. With her watchful eyes, she provided much needed protection when Carol let her own guard down as it was impossible for the tired woman to keep herself on the defensive at all times.

From where she sat, she stretched her legs, touched her toes, even shook them so that they did not ache too badly for tomorrow. Carol had blisters on her feet, she was prepared to handle that. Without any treatment of course, she was prepared to deal with having to walk with them. Sometimes, though rare, Carol would walk without her shoes on so that she could release pressure off her abused feet.

It would help a little, then they would get cold or have to cross a particularly uncomfortable looking patch of road or trail and she would put them back on. The little things helped them both out.

Laura would be Carol's protection at all times of the day and night. There was a mutual partnership between the two, they began to understand each other. Carol was much more cautious than Laura, mostly because of the ' _undead trying to eat the living_ ' thing. Also due to Carol's nature, her personality required her to be almost mouse-like. She was small, strength was not on her side, but her size and speed would turn to her advantage in a bad situation. _  
_

They both shared this commonality. Laura was fast, agile, and, from her previous walker-instinctual hunting; she would compare her movements to a snake. She felt it unnatural, almost sickly when she moved. She supposed that the side of her capable of doing these things was not the side she wanted to embrace as of yet. Turning to it was only ever weakening her own grasp on her healthy, human mind.

Laura heard Carol sigh. Turning her head to see the woman just staring out to the trees behind them both. "It's such a nice day out. I wonder why we haven't seen many walkers? Used to see them all the time now... it's almost like they don't exist out here."

"They'll be around, most likely in the trees or in those cars. Walkers are usually where people in the world before this would be hiding or where survivors would've have gone." Laura pointed to a few cars behind them, "For those of the world before, there might be a walker in them. Maybe a person hiding when the outbreak reached this area. The woods for the survivors, it's harder to be spotted in there, but also harder to spot walkers."

Carol gave her an amused look, "You think too hard about these things. I just meant that we've gone three days without seeing a single walker, it's kinda nice. Almost reminds me of the way things used to be... if it weren't for the looted stores and broken down cars we've come across."

"Don't get comfy. I think about these things because it's easier to defend us if I know where they're coming from." Laura leaned against the guardrail, a little ways further from Carol. She was still able to keep an eye out, her senses would pick up if anything or anyone was approaching. Thankfully she could see far at this flat section of the road they were stopped at.

With a scoff, Carol swallowed more of the jerky they rescued from the old pharmacy they had found. Unfortunately, Laura recalled, there was nothing more of any value like medicines or a large stock of food. Only a few pieces of jerky. "You'e always thinking of the bad things, I know the world ended and it's sad. We can't change all that though, might as well enjoy the little moments while we have them." Laura watched as Carol closed her eyes and took a deep breath of air in.

She agreed with Carol. It was too much for Laura to risk Carol by relaxing to smell the roses though; she would do that when Carol was safe with the group or with a new group. Until then, Laura would just enjoy watching Carol be the kind, loving woman she was. That always made Laura happy to see.

They could take a breather, it would not hurt to just rest a moment. Laura could still hurt even if she did not tire out. Her legs were sore, mainly the area that she had broken so long ago. It healed faster than Laura ever expected it to, she had the opposite of the comic book heroes' healing factor she used to love reading so much of. Instead, she took extra time to heal the small and larger wounds.

" _It sucks._ " She groaned internally. If she had to live with a certain issue all her life, she would rather it not be living with injuries for twice as long as normal. It served no purposed, helped no one; if anything it actually hindered her more than it provided insight to her condition. " _Which also sucks._ " Laura huffed.

_Crack~!_

Laura shot up from her seat, pulling out the gun she carried with her and cocking it. She heard something, she knew it. Carol caught sight of her friend's instant change in demeanor and came up to her. "What is it?" She whispered, hoping not to attract whatever Laura heard.

"Not sure. Stay with me, we need cover." Laura brought Carol to the opposite side of the road from where she heard the noise. It would help hide Laura and Carol in some form of camouflage. She had no idea if it was walker or human, but either way the trees provided much needed defense. If they couldn't see them it would be easier to identify what was on the far side of the road.

If _whatever it was_ chose to come out to follow them.

Laura was careful about it though, she lead Carol deeper into the woods while still keeping sight of the road. She could hear Carol's heart pounding in her chest, she was afraid something bad was about to come out of those bushes. Laura did not blame her; she was just as worried. If it was humans, they were in for some trouble.

" _Should've stuck to the woods. Harder to spot._ " Laura cursed herself, they followed the road because it was easier and helped them find more places to scavenge. It also meant that they were more open to being caught and attacked by other survivors. The unfriendly kind that was always on Laura's mind.

However, as they waited to find out what had made the sound, Laura became increasingly worried that it was not a walker. If it had been, she assumed to have seen some kind of sign by now. It would have followed them, made the telltale hissing and growling. Instead, all they got was silence. Laura's brain ran into overdrive. She had to play out all possible chances to escape from the area without being followed.

It would not be easy, but Laura could not wait around to find out if this was a walker or a person. Anything posed a threat now and they had to make their way out of here.

"Carol, keep down and keep close. We have to leave, now." Laura stressed, keeping hushed tones. Carol nodded and crouched behind Laura. The two kept low to the ground, Laura with her gun out and Carol with the hatchet in her hands.

As they scurried away from the area, Laura could not pick out any sounds or scents in the air. It just so happened that the cold winter wind was blowing behind them, so she did not expect to pick up any smells. She would have to rely on what she could hear or see.

Just as Laura thought they were getting far enough away from the area, she turned to glance behind them while taking cover behind a tree. Carol passed her at this point but waited until Laura started moving again to continue. She squinted her eyes, darting her vision between the trees. For a minute, Laura thought this was the clear and they would run for distance before finding a place to hide and possibly follow another path beside the highway.

That is, until Laura saw someone lean from behind another tree. Her eyes went wide.

They were being followed.

"Carol." She whispered, "Someone is behind us. I don't know who or what they want, but we have to be prepared. Alright?" The horror etched on Carol's face both showed how scared she was, but also how driven she was to survive. Her daughter was out there; she would not give up without a fight.

Laura held out the gun to Carol who had practiced with a gun before, yet was still surprised when Laura handed it to her. "If anything happens, I will make sure with everything I have, that you get out of this. I'll do my best for us both, but you have to make it to Sophia and the others. That's all I know for certain."

Carol accepted the gun and held the grip tightly, she was not the greatest shot but neither was she bad. Laura pulled out the machete she carried and looked back to the direction they were heading in.

"We have to run, we have no other choice. If we're lucky, they're not interested or we outrun them. If not... we'll have to fight. You may have to shoot someone, can you do that?" Laura wanted to make sure Carol knew that she would be ending a human life; it would feel different than stabbing some lame walker in the head.

"I know. I'll do it; We have to." Carol was ready to aim and fire that gun if she had to even though she had never hurt another living person before. She would not die here today or let anyone take advantage of her. She was a stronger woman now than she had ever been, as far as Carol was concerned, no one was going to take that from her if she had any chance to fight back.

"Remember, do this for Sophia. You have to be there for her." Laura stood with her back against the tree, holding up the machete. Quickly, Laura took out extra rounds from her pocket and handed them to Carol who fit them into her jacket just as fast. "If a walker sees you, comes for you. Call me; I will be there. Now give me some cover fire, we're gonna have a fight on our hands."

Carol gulped and tried to aim the gun. She was ready, not the best shot in the world, but she could do this. Laura knew the fear for survival would help Carol. The adrenalin that Carol was already experiencing could sharpen her to give them a better chance to escape from what was following them.

Sure enough, Carol fired the first shot and the heard the person behind them. It was a man, he came out from behind the tree and aimed at them with a rifle.

Laura let Carol fire off another shot, hitting the tree beside the man. This forced him back into cover and Laura took her chance to get closer. She ducked behind another tree when she heard the rifle fire; it was louder and all Laura could see of Carol was her staying behind a tree too. This was getting out of hand fast.

She bolted between the trees, the man with the rifle would be unable to shoot Laura if he could not get a clear shot on her. The woods were dense enough and the trees thick enough to keep the man aiming. Though he fired off a few more shots, none came close to hitting Laura and when he came out, so did Carol.

This one man could not distract himself by shooting at Laura, there was no way he could properly defend himself against Carol who he, luckily, did not know was a bad shot and Laura who was busy weaving through the trees to flank him. As she got closer, it was harder to get a chance to move in. He would catch her too soon and then she completely relied on Carol's shots forcing him back behind the tree.

It was going too smoothly, she was surprised that she was already two trees over from the man while he still struggled to fight both Carol and Laura off.

There was something wrong with this; either this guy was terrible with guns or he was letting them get close. Which would not make much sense either way, if he survived this long he had to be a better shot than what Carol and Laura were seeing.

Right when she was around the last tree, she heard Carol fire again and he went into cover. She waited for her chance, listening to the two exchange shots. One came out, the other ducked and it continued for another minute before she heard the noticeable sound of metal tapping metal. " _Bullets. He's reloading, this is my chance!_ " Laura took a deep breath in and held it.

Holding the hatchet up, Laura jumped from her cover and let out a shrill hiss. The man spun around in a panic, he was trying to force the bullets into the barrel as she came out. He screamed in shock and fell back, trying to shield himself from the inevitable swing of the dull machete Laura carried.

Laura came down on top of the man, her nails digging into his shirt and jacket as she started to bring the machete down on him.

In a split second, Laura's hiss ended and the machete stopped before it even scratched his arm. She froze in the moment, recognition sprung to the front of her mind. She _knew_ this man, but it took her a few seconds to realize she did. The heat of the moment had slowed her response time to this less violent approach.

Carol could see Laura poised over the man, ready to deliver a killing blow. The machete just above her head and her hand tightly held the man as she had her weight pressed on him to keep him down. He was unable to stop that machete, whatever happened, Laura had stopped it herself.

She tried to see through the arms the man held up to guard himself. He was so assured of his death that he did not stop to think about surviving this.

It felt like an hour before Laura saw his face. "Markus?!"

She dropped the machete in her shock, releasing his shirt as she recoiled from him. " _I almost killed Markus..._ " Some part of her did not want to accept that she could have killed a friend.

"Who-?" When he heard his name, he instantly let his guard down. Upon seeing Laura before him, he leaned up on his elbows. "Laura!" He exclaimed, beyond confused. As far as he knew, Laura died of her bites months ago.

At the scene of Laura and the stranger talking, Carol started to approach the two. She disliked being out in the open after a firefight, they were too vulnerable to walkers sneaking up on them. As she came closer, she could hear them talk.

"I thought... you were, uh... y'know." Markus gave Laura a very _trying_ smile; Laura could see he was reconsidering what had happened between her and their group now.

"I was not turning. I told you guys that. You did not believe me." Laura stated matter-of-factly. She may know Markus, but with her rather severe case of walker-likeness she was not about to put her machete away. "I escaped from y'all and found my own way."

Markus sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahh yeah... We didn't know, we just thought..."

"That I was turning, that I was as good as dead? You should have listened to me. I would have explained everything to you." Laura rose from the ground, giving Carol an assuring nod.

Standing up, Markus looked to the new woman. He held his hand out to her, "Hey there, I'm Markus... Uh, sorry about the whole trying to shoot you thing." He frowned at himself and was glad when Carol accepted his hand.

"Carol. I understand, we thought you were following us to attack us." She was relieved that no one had to die and that this man was actually a new ally to add to their small team.

Laura nodded, "Good point. Why were you following us, Markus?"

"I wasn't _following_ you." He grinned, his nerves finally cooled down. A bit more relaxed, Markus pointed in the direction they were heading in. "I was heading back to my group when I saw you two in between me and the others. I didn't want them to be blindsided by strangers, so I made my way up to you. I have to be honest; I was not expecting you two to open fire."

All that came to Laura's mind was the night that Red and Braddock took her to the lower level of the building and put that cold blade to her head. It was terrifying, Laura was sure she was going to die. At that time she was confused as to what part of her drove her to fight back, but she knew it now and Laura was no longer concerned about what they would try to do to her.

"They're still... alive?" Laura was a bit caught off guard now, she had assumed the worst. While she knew it was possible they survived, it was even more likely that they did not.

Markus had a curious look on his face, "You thought we were dead?"

She gave him a shrug, "I dunno, a lot of people don't make it. We lost people a few months ago too."

Overlooking just the two of them, Markus seemed a bit unsure about his next question. "How many did you have?"

"About fifteen of us, including Carol and myself. We had a farm a long ways from here and a herd just popped up one night." Laura watched Carol carefully, she did not know how Carol felt about that disturbing night. She knows Carol has trouble sleeping, that the memory of that night was still with her.

Laura hated not talking to Carol more, she just feared the plausibility of hurting her more.

"Oh shit." Markus could only see the two of them here, "I'm so sorry, that must've been horrible. It's just the two of you now?" He asked, there was no one else with them on the road as far as he could tell.

"Our group survived. We just got separated." Carol caught on first, knowing that Markus thought that the entire group died when the herd of walkers came. "We're trying to catch up to them, but they left in cars and we're on foot."

Markus let out a deep breath, "Good! I mean, sorry you got separated, but I just thought that you meant they all died. I'm glad you didn't lose everyone." He had a weak smile, then looked towards Laura. "I-... _We_ lost Elizabeth."

They remained silent until Laura looked to Carol. "Elizabeth is his sister, she was a good woman." Laura could see it was still recent enough for Markus' usual joking demeanor to be broken. Laura liked that entire group, they were always good company.

"Ahh, it's alright. After what we did to you..." He swallowed a lump in his throat, "I'm real sorry about all that, especially seeing you now. I just... we all did. We thought you were going to turn and-"

"I found another good group, _they_ are kind, caring people. I'm hoping to find them so I can get Carol back to her daughter." At the mention of herself, Carol smiled sweetly to Laura.

"Is your group nearby?" Carol asked, hoping to find some rest after the long days they have had alone.

"About fifteen minutes in the direction you two were headed. Honestly, if we didn't run into each other... Red might've shot you both before you got close." Markus and his group had a rather solid set up, it was not permanent and they knew it, but it did serve them well. "Braddock picked up one of those sniper rifles off a dead marine. We all got quite the arsenal now after we ran into a graveyard of military supplies. We cleaned out all the walkers and took what we could. The place wasn't secure by any means, but it was nice to have guns and lots of them."

"That's really lucky. We've been surviving off this collection of weapons our group's leader picked up from his own PD. He was a cop before all this and looted the armory for all the guns they had." Laura was not about to tell Markus what little supplies she and Carol carried with them now. She was still on the defensive. They did try to kill her after all.

"Nice, gotta' have some kind protection out here. It's gotten really bad these last few weeks." Markus mused on his own experiences, which neither Carol nor Laura were privy to. "Ahh well, I'm heading back to them now. They probably heard the gunfire and are on watch now; you're welcome to join me."

"You would let us come with you, just like that?" Carol voiced her own suspicions before Laura got a chance to.

"Of course! Laura's a friend and a good person. Helped us when we needed it. Any friend of Laura's is a friend of mine, it'd be nice to have some visitors anyways." With a friendly pat on the back, Markus gestured them to follow him.

Laura stayed at arms length, these people tried to kill her and she was not feeling in the forgiving mood. Granted, she found Rick and Glenn soon after at a critical time. Without being kicked out of this group, she would have never come to find Rick escaping that tank, sat with Dale on late night watches, or managed to find Daryl, the only person she truly got close to.

Still, when she thought of Red, Micheal, and the others all Laura could see was that dark room and Red's knife ready to end her life. It was not a pleasant memory, especially after her tumble down the stairs. They were good people, but Laura had no intention of _forgiving and forgetting_. She was on the defensive, her own injuries that were finally starting to heal posed as nagging reminders of that night.

This was a stranger side of Laura, she was usually understanding about these issues. " _Then again, what was it I was going on about to Shane?_ " Laura smirked, she did not want to 'understand' anymore. Someone tried to kill her and now she was going to give them the cold shoulder. Perhaps it was childish, but they did try to _kill_ her. She could not see a single person being alright with someone trying to murder them.

A bit of her was angry though, angry they did not listen to her. So much could have been solved if they had given her a moment to speak. Deep inside of Laura, she felt a burning rage over the memory of almost being murdered. This world changed so many, these dangers were bound to happen.

That did not make it any better for Laura.

"Hey, Laura." Markus grabbed her attention for a moment. Laura had been staring stoically off ahead of them as they walked, she was ready for someone to tell her they knew something was on her mind.

Her chest stung, she was missing Rick and Daryl's understanding of her. They could both tell when she was bothered and it hurt to know that they were not here to prod at how easy she was to read. It was running thing between them, Laura laughed at herself when they brought it up too.

"I almost didn't notice, but you sound better now." He pointed to his own throat, "You used to stutter a lot. Did that just go away?"

Laura almost wanted to ignore the remark and only thought better of it when she remembered that Carol was with her. Carol's usual motherly watchfulness would pick up on Laura's displeasure quickly regardless of her choice to respond. Her emotions were never hard to read though the only ones who ever addressed this to Laura was Rick and Daryl.

At this peculiar time in their survival against the undead (living for _some_ ), Laura was unsure how really she should react to holding a grudge. What was proper? Could the people in this world forgive almost being murdered? _Should_ they?

"It was due to my history. I was a walker at one point, Markus. It fucked up my voice and a lot of other things." She could even feel the chill in her own voice. "If you had ever bothered to ask, you would have known that."

The guilty look from Markus was enough to make Carol pity him. She recalled Shane treating Laura the same, but she could not understand why Laura was so adamant about being deliberately hurtful. She would have spoken up to defend the man; however, she did not know enough about the relationship between Laura and this unknown group to feel properly equipped to deal with Laura's grudge.

"I know, you're right." He had a solemn look, diverting his eyes from Laura for a moment. When he turned his gaze back on her, he bit his lip and tried to read her like her friends did. Unfortunately, Markus did not know Laura long enough to have developed that knowledge of her. "I know sorry won't make up for it and I really, really am sorry. I just hope you can forgive us one day. I'll help though, make it up to you."

Laura did not turn her head to look at Markus' heartfelt admission to her. Instead, she just gave him the cold shoulder and let the conversation drop.

Markus was not so easily swayed. "So... This is you, huh? I didn't remember you being so... blue?" He cracked a smile, but it was not enough to break how bad he felt at this moment. "And uh, you seem to have... changed some more colors?-" He pointed to his face and neck, "-Are you alright? We had medical supplies at the camp if you need it."

"I'm sure Laura would appreciate it. Some of those are older bruises, but she doesn't heal like us. So she stays sore longer; any way to cool the inflammation might be helpful." Carol took the offer. She was always thinking of some way to help sooth Laura's injuries as they had been long standing and, taking from her own personal experience, very uncomfortable. Bruises intense enough to turn black were always harder to deal with and Carol could relate to it.

"Absolutely. Complete truth here? I don't know how the others will react to seeing you here. It's a pretty big thing to take in, y'know?" He wanted to pat her on the back, hug her like he and his sister used to. She was not so compliant anymore, the obvious distaste to being touched was evident in just how she carried herself. Markus believed that if he tried, he might actually lose a hand.

She was still holding that machete pretty tightly in her hand.

"We can take care of ourselves if it gets bad. All we want is a place to rest for a bit before heading on." The answer meant to Markus that Carol and Laura were not intending on staying long. From Carol's tone, this was not up for discussion. Markus could understand after they explained Carol was looking for the group so that she could reconnect with her daughter.

That was not something Markus would argue. He would help whatever way he could, though with Laura's attitude towards them he doubted he could help very much before Laura just ditched them.

"Yeah, well... How are you now, Laura? You look pretty battered." He was an eternal optimist, even with the world covered in the undead and his sister's recent passing due to the previous. Markus held hope that things would look up eventually and he did think well of Laura, who stuck her neck out for them when they needed it.

Laura merely turned her head to see him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, I'm doing alright now. You know, after Red pushed me down those flight of stairs seemed to segue into people thinking it was alright to start kicking the shit out of me. So I had that going for me for a while. Now it's mostly just healing from those that I got a problem with."

Markus' breath hitched, "Er, yeah. We heard about that."

Carol's shoulders slumped, Laura was not in the friendliest mood. The were pleased to know that Markus was not someone out to kill them, which resulted in Laura being relieved at the notion of _not_ having to deal with a hostile group out there. This initial feeling of adrenalin allowed them both to momentarily enjoy not being dead or shot. Laura's pleasantness wore off quickly when she remembered this group trying to kill her.

"Oh, we're just up here now." Markus hated how things happened between Laura and his group. It was impossible to change, but he truly wanted to make it up to her. When he thought they had lost almost their entire group, Laura showed up and walked them out.

He felt obligated to help her, not because of any life-debt situation. Because he knew Laura was a good person underneath all the bad blood that was forced between them. She had been sweet, shy, and a gentle person before. This world changed many people, if Laura was putting on a tough face it was forced by how other people treated other survivors in this deadly world.

Leading them towards a small homestead that was completely fenced in by a large iron and brick fence design. No walkers would make it in without the main gate being opened. This old plantation house with a long driveway made Laura feel uncomfortable.

It was too obvious, there were clear vantage points to watch the house from afar. Any unfriendly groups running through this area would check this home and run through anything that stood in their way.

Even though Markus insisted their safety and the military grade weapon defense, Laura did not feel safe. Then again, she did not even feel safe with her own group when the Voice started to worm its way into her conscious.

Markus opened the gate and let them in before sliding it closed behind them. There was only a weak latch that held it shut, no bolts, no chains; it had a good defense against walkers. Nothing against other survivors.

"Come on now, they'll be happy to see you even if they don't understand it." Markus suggested to Laura in attempt to provide some comfort as they approached, but Laura was less than pleased at both him and the idea that she was heading back to them in need of help. " _They tried to kill me. Do not forget. Watch yourself, be ready._ "

Carol kept a close eye on Laura as they headed towards the house. It was a mostly silent trip until they closed in on the house.

To which they were met with a group of heavily armed people poised to shoot out of the windows. Immediately, Laura and Carol both stopped and Laura gestured for Carol to raise her hands with her. Their only gun was secured in Carol's oversized jacket pockets. It was completely hidden and Laura would not surrender it no matter what they demand.

"Who are you?" Laura felt her blood run cold at the recognition of Red's voice. She felt as though this event was incorporeal, as if this moment forced her to disconnect with the actions of those around them. _  
_

"Red, it's alright. They're fine." Markus smiled at them. "You guys won't believe this-" He turned to Laura, "But it's Laura. She's alive."

Instantly she saw their faces change, like watching someone flip channels. Their mood had switched dramatically as most of them lowered their weapons and stared at Laura. It was discomforting to be under such scrutiny again, none of them bothered to mask their surprise. Or how their eyes bored into her.

"Impossible!" Daisy spoke breathlessly, almost stumbling down the four porch steps as she came up to Laura. Her rifle was not aimed at her anymore, not when Markus pointed Laura out. "How're you still here?!"

"But... we saw you-!" Braddock, the biggest and softest of the group came up behind Daisy; almost protective and clearly displaying his uncertainty. Laura could choose either to understand their behavior and the reason behind her almost-murder or show them the side of her that she was now nurturing. Against her previous attempts at postponing the progression of Laura's darker, walker side.

Seeing this group, her love and care for them, was replaced by a stronger anger towards them. The part of her that she fought against was freeing itself with Laura's own personality response to the memory of almost being stabbed. Unknowing to Laura, this quickly created a symbiosis between Laura and the Voice.

"I'm fine, I told you that back in Atlanta." She growled, her hands still raised in defense. A large part of her believed they would still shoot her.

Red's eyes flashed with an emotion that Laura had difficulty deciphering as Red rarely ever showed any kind of reaction back in Atlanta, not even to nearly being overrun by walkers. Laura was not breaking eye contact with him in a way to present herself to him, to prove him wrong about her that night.

"Come inside. I think we should talk." His brows furrowed in thought, he was confused and curious as to how she survived being bitten.

This time their group was more willing to listen and come to an apprehension of what happened, but Laura was not.


	39. Wrath of the Undead

aura was sat down with Carol beside her on an old, brown couch in the center of the room. They were given each a bottle of water and dried fruit to eat. For a moment she almost felt like she was back at the Greene farm with everyone looking at her.

This awkward time was only beset by Carol when she gave them all a grateful smile. "It's kind of you to welcome us in like this and offer us food. I haven't met all of you yet, but you all seem to know Laura."

"Yeah, we know her from way back." Daisy sat beside Carol, "I'm Daisy and it's nice to meet you and to see Laura again. We have some food stores and with Markus vouching for you, we have no problem sharing. People are very... unforgiving these days."

"I can understand why. So much uncertainty. I'm Carol." She took a sip of the water, it had been quite some time since she had good, clean water.

"I'm Braddock," The largest of the group stepped forward, offering his hand politely. Carol was a bit surprised when she accepted the greeting; the muscular man was gentler than she expected. "That's Red in the corner and Michael." He pointed them both out, "It's good to have some company around."

Red approached them displaying something Laura had never seen him do before. He was smiling. "Pleasure to meet you Carol. We don't get to see a lot of other survivors and have to be careful even when we do. Never know who's out there. Laura's a trusted friend, I hope you're the same as she."

"Don't worry about me, I'm friendly." She joked, everyone knew survivors can be harmless when happy, but dangerous any other time. This was a pleasantry they had not seen since before the outbreak. Carol was polite, considerate, and listened well to manners she had learned as a child even in this new world. "We've been on the road for a few months now, it's nice to finally sit down and relax for a bit."

Everyone turned back to Laura, who was less than pleased to be sitting here with the people who tried to kill her. Their past deed went unforgiven and disturbed Laura's once peaceful memory of them.

Somehow, by knowing they had survived the undead of Atlanta, made reminiscing about their history before the incident that separated them impossible to Laura.

"So... Laura, how have you been?" Daisy tried to seem approachable, hoping that Laura would accept this extending branch. She was not so cooperative.

Laura turned her head to stare ruefully at Daisy. The heavy gaze was enough to break Daisy away from her question. It was enough to know Laura was alive still, but they struggled to reconnect with the damaged woman. Laura internally whisked away in her thoughts, " _Am I a damaged person?_ " She posed the question to herself, her mind racing through all manner of memories before she came to a conclusion within seconds. " _I think so._ "

Everyone seemed to look to Red for guidance on dealing with the proverbial elephant in the room. He is their leader, gave them hope and security when they thought there was none. In this case, Red was more unsure how to proceed, but not unwilling to try bandaging this festering wound.

"Laura-" He skipped a moment when her unnaturally silver and black eyes snapped to him, almost daring him to say something. He was braver than that, he would speak his mind and let Laura do with it as she wished. "-I speak for everyone here when I say... I'm sorry. I wish I could change things. I wish I would have listened."

Laura was not satisfied, Markus had already given her his apologies. It was expected that they would do the same, anything less would be insulting to her.

"-but I can't. I can't go back and change what we did, what happened was... a mistake and it almost cost you your life." Red was standing close to her now, yet she did not move back from her hunched over seat on the couch. Her glare was unrelenting, he wondered, the way she is, if she even had to blink anymore. "We would've committed to a murder without knowing the whole truth. It's true, we all lost people, we all know what this infection does to people. Yes, this changes how we see other survivors and it effected how we treated you."

Still unmoving, an almost hateful glare. Red was almost overwhelmed by how sinister she looked to him and to them all.

"That's not an excuse to treat people so... poorly. We made a horrible error and it almost killed you. There's nothing I can do to show you how sorry we feel and even that wouldn't make a real difference." He relaxed his tense jaw, the stress of this situation was getting to him. He had lost that once edgy touch that made them all worried for him. "We'll do whatever we can to help you and Carol both. It's not much, but all lost you in Atlanta. It's... amazing to have you back. To have that second chance."

Carol slowly watched Laura as her body tensed, she was not used to seeing an angrier, unyielding side of Laura. The usually shy girl they found in Atlanta became a thicker skinned person than any of them anticipated. Carol was earning her own strength, but there was a part of Laura that no longer stayed within the boundaries of the natural.

Laura slowly came to a stand. Even her smaller stature seemed to overtake Red quickly, he was not going to back away from her though. He was adamant about proving himself to Laura, though she looked less than thrilled at his speech.

"You are _sorry_?" She growled, "You forced a knife to my head, pretty shitty way to die as is. When I tried to explain you all ignored me. Then, I escaped you; you attacked me. I wouldn't have hurt you and you knew it. Instead, you attacked me and knocked me down a full flight of stairs." Her voice gradually increased until she was bordering on yelling in anger. "I was in pain already, you don't know the _shit_ I went through before I found you! How I had been experimented on, how I learned what my organs looked like first hand. How those men used me. I should've never helped you ungrateful bastards! I went against everything I knew to defend you, fight for you; I saved you and you didn't even give me the time of fucking day!"

This rage from Laura had silenced the room, they knew very little about her or even her life before the outbreak. She was an unknown to them, a stranger if they really looked deep into Laura. She was known by name and actions, but never spoke about herself. Laura was always a mystery, keeping to herself and listening to them.

Laura thought that, for once, she had stood up for herself and said what she wanted to say. It was empowering, enlightening experience and Laura could feel this deep seeded anger rise from a pit in her stomach.

"Laura!" Carol stood beside her, somehow though, remembering Carol was with her and hearing her voice forced Laura's anger to quell almost instantly. The anger in her resided in the dark part of her mind, it was not rearing its head while Carol addressed her.

She looked at Carol, her eyes softened at the sight of the smaller woman. "We need to talk, privately." Carol stormed around Laura who followed dutifully behind. The group remained to respect Carol's call for a private discussion.

Carol led her to a dinning room and closed the large double doors behind them. She waited a moment to speak, attempting to collect herself and her words. This was a delicate issue and Carol knew Laura was in an even more fragile state. Not only were these people her friends at one point, she was still trying to keep herself under control.

As she stepped closer to Laura, she realized Laura was carefully shifted backwards. This small action warmed Carol's heart, to know that even while Laura is angry, she was still thinking of Carol's safety.

"Laura, I know this must be difficult for you." Carol spoke attentively, watching Laura's reaction with scrutinizing detail. "I can't imagine how hard this must be. I just need you to know that they seem to be good people who made a bad mistake. This world has gotten complicated, hard to understand right from wrong. Like what happened with that boy in the shed."

Carol put her hands together, giving Laura a very caring, motherly look. "You don't have to forgive them, you don't even have to like them. If they're good people, we could use their help... Actually, we _need_ it. We don't know how far out the other are or if we're even on the right path anymore. If we want to make it anywhere over the winter, we need help. If they're not good people, we will find another way."

"I know you're right." Laura looked away from Carol, glancing down to the table while she picked at a piece of loose wood. She was trying to distract her mind, tame herself by not facing Carol's tender eyes. She is a compassionate woman and Laura felt ashamed of her uncharacteristic anger. "I just... I feel this _rage_ inside me. I want to scream, to claw, to make them hurt like they made me. I want them to know how I felt; how I feel now. We're alone out here and I'm not always the best company anymore. I only want to get you to Sophia so that... you can be happy again."

Carol knew Laura would not let her approach her out in the open like this, not when Laura was teetering on the edge of a walker-esque insanity. Neither of them wanted her control to falter, but Carol yearned to show Laura the care she used to back when she had needed comfort back at the farm.

"It will be alright, Laura. We'll find them and we'll find a place for you too. None of them would let you go so easily." She sighed, the group was very understanding to Laura's position. "Let's just get to know these people, like you got to know us. Maybe they aren't so bad. You were afraid of what we would do when we found out what happened to you."

Laura shrugged, "But that was different. I was scared of something you never did. I hate them for something they did and I begged them not to kill me... You would have listened though, even back when we first met. Rick listened to me, you all accepted me. I didn't have to plea for my life or fight you. I explained myself, answered your questions, and you gave me the benefit of the doubt."

With a hopeful smile, Carol went back to the doors. "Maybe they've changed. When faced with their mistakes, good people improve. They might surprise you."

* * *

It was almost a grudge war with Laura at first, but she was calm around Carol. Markus would relate Laura to a dog, defensive, loyal, and kindly only around Carol though. This oddity went unknown or less noticed by most of the group though.

Red, Markus, and Daisy figured it out quickly. Melanie was too young to understand and Braddock was also very kindly, despite his size.

This change in Laura's hostile attitude was a welcome gift, if Carol had not been there to diffuse the situation, they had no idea how Laura would have handled seeing them again. Regardless of how they each felt, they were happy to have Laura there. What happened before was a mistake and, seeing Laura alive now, provided all the evidence they needed to accept that.

Though they all shared in a less tense company now, Laura was still not convinced that she needed to be kinder to them. " _Do unto others and all that shit._ " She was struggling internally to listen to the more patient side of her, the side that wanted to listen to Carol and acknowledge the woman as being a better judge of character. _  
_

Laura almost laughed at herself. All through the troubles of this new world, she had never been a good judge of character. Good and bad seemed to just slip by her, not to mention how frequently people changed until the pressures of fight or flight all the time. It was a definite test of morality that never let up on a person.

She absentmindedly wondered how Rick was doing these last few months. How was he holding up, did he find a place for the group to live? Was he even still alive? Anything could happen on these roads.

As they all relaxed, more questions were directed to how Laura and Carol ended up in the area and the group they were with. They both expected these questions and were ready to answer. However, the first questions were not directed to Carol. This group has seen someone they thought dead walk in through the front door. It was worth learning about.

"Where did you go... after us I mean." Daisy asked, sitting on a single chair across from Laura and Carol. They had moved around the room a little since the earlier dispute, but none of them were upset over it.

Laura glanced to Carol, she would answer even if she didn't like to. Carol gave her a reassuring nod. "I ran into the city, walkers don't... they don't want to kill me. So I followed a horde through the city, scavenged around. Not much happened immediately, but after a little while I found two members of the group that I soon joined. Where I met Carol at. Led by a few guys I didn't know very well until later of course."

"Were they good, to you both?" Markus had more concern over the men and women in the group. He heard his own horror stories out there, he hoped he was not listening to another one.

"They were nice, protective people. We looked out for each other." Carol smiled, "Everyone was a little hesitant at first. It was all so scary what with Atlanta being bombed. I found part of the group on the road and we made camp near a quarry outside of the city. We hoped help would come soon, some talked about leaving to a place called Fort Benning, some just wanted to wait it all out."

"I met two of the group initially before I joined, helped them escape from the horde I traveled with." She knew she was earning odd looks for talking about walkers like they were unimportant and docile. "I met them again later on, along with a few more members and another new one that joined that day too. There were a few complications, but we eluded another herd attracted by the gunfire and that's where I met the rest at the quarry."

"They just let you join them, no questions?" Red queried, he would not allow someone to join his group without knowing who they were first. It was safety for them all, it was an unfortunate idea.

"I helped them survive a herd that would have killed them all. Their new leader joined the same day, his name was Rick, a cop, and he was looking for his wife and son. He was in the hospital during the outbreak, after being shot on the job. He woke up from a coma after everything was overrun and eventually made his way to Atlanta, found part of the group in Atlanta, and came back with them." Laura smiled weakly at the memory. "Turns out, his wife and son were there, safe all along."

Daisy giggled, "Wow, he's a lucky man."

"Extremely." Carol agreed, it was still such a surreal moment to think back on how Lori was beyond shocked to see him alive. From what they all knew, her husband had died before the outbreak.

"What happened after that? You must've all left the quarry if you ended up all the way out here." Red came back around, almost envious of Rick as his good luck. Laura about forgot how Red used to be, he was cold, an unknown even in the group.

"We left a man in Atlanta. He was unfriendly, gave me a black eye and nearly killed one of our group. We cuffed him to a roof top, but the walkers couldn't get him..." Laura took in their reactions, some of them seemed taken aback. "We felt that we couldn't leave him there to die. So we, Rick, myself, the man's brother, and two others came with to save him and pick up a gun bag that Rick dropped when he was trapped by the Atlanta herds."

"Jesus." Markus gasped, "That's just fucked."

Carol rested a hand on Laura's leg, it was a kind gesture even though Laura was worried about the closeness. "We lost a lot of people that night. Another herd attacked camp just as they came back. Most of our group had died. We left the morning after and headed to the Atlanta CDC building."

"How was it there?" They seemed a little excited to hear something from disease control. Daisy leaned forward, "Any... progress?"

"It wasn't what we hoped it would be." Carol gulped, "It's gone now."

Red ran a hand down his face, "That doesn't sound good... Why are you both out here alone? It's dangerous without a group anymore."

"We found a farm after we-" Laura looked to Carol, "One of the group, a little girl, was chased into the woods by walkers. We tried to get her back, but instead Rick's son, Carl... was shot and we couldn't find the girl. After a bit, we met a family who owned a farm nearby and joined up as the man, Hershel, took care of Carl."

"Sounds like you guys had a rough ride..." Daisy related well.

"We stayed there for a long time, built a bit of a life... Before a herd overran the farm and we got separated from them. Now it's just me and Carol trying to find the rest. We know they made it off the farm, we know the direction they headed in; we just don't know how far ahead of us they are anymore." Laura finished the story by glossing over any unneeded details.

Red looked to Braddock and Michael. "You're welcome here as long as you want to stay. We owe you that much at least. Just ask if you need something to eat or drink, gotta' watch our rations is all."

"Thank you, we do appreciate the help." Carol replied to Red as she could see that Laura was less than pleased with Red most of all. "All we really need is a safe place to rest before moving on to find the others."

"You don't want to stay?" Daisy understood wanting to find their people, but worried more about survival than anything.

"It would be nice and you seem like good people, but we have to find them. My daughter is alone there, I have to find her if nothing else." Carol had no question about that at least, she could not be convinced otherwise. They all respected this, there was nothing more important than family in this world.

"We understand completely. If you're alright with it and if for however long you stay for, then we'll have shifts all night, but you two get some sleep tonight at least." Markus offered, he was being good to them and no one had any complaints about it.

Laura stood up, "I can keep watch all night if you want, I don't sleep." She looked to Carol sitting on the couch, "I'll be outside if you need me."

Without answering any of the questioning looks she got, Laura headed out to the front porch to keep watch. The group was not done investigating what was going on anymore. There were many things that went unanswered.

"She doesn't sleep?" Markus posed the question to Carol first.

She nodded to them, "Laura's... condition has left her without sleep. She's never slept while she was with us at all. Every night she'd be up on top of the RV keeping watch with someone else there with her. It's just how she is now."

"We're all curious, Carol. What... happened to Laura? She said she was experimented on, tried to tell us that she had been cured. Is that true, is there a cure?" Daisy was anxious to ask this, they were all hopeful to hear this news. A cure could solve so many problems in the world that they could not hide how amazed they were to hear this.

"From what she's told us, her father had experience in the field. He was a scientist of some success and she told him about her bite back before it was really known about. She says she woke up sometime afterwards and apparently she had turned, but he found a way to help her." Carol couldn't explain much about it, Laura had told them a series of events, but no specifics.

"So your group, her father, is with your group? And he has the cure?" Red raised the idea to his group and it made them all begin considering finding their group too. For safety in numbers and a cure if they are bitten. It was worth a risk.

"No." Carol shifted a little uncomfortably, "Her father did what she said earlier. He experimented on her while she was alive again and when she got a chance, she left him to find her own way. It was a bad situation for her and I'm glad she's no longer under his knife."

Again, the group almost expected that answer, but Daisy felt another sting of guilt. They knew so little about Laura before she found them and when she tried to tell them... Daisy closed her eyes momentarily, trying to take in the information. "But she is... cured, right?"

"In a manner of speaking." Carol spoke before she thought, when she saw their faces she shook her head, "Let me explain. Laura is human again, she can think and feel. Her heart doesn't... beat normally. In fact, it doesn't beat at all anymore. Physically, Laura's body is dead now. She used to have a pulse once, but she collapsed back at camp right before the herd came. Laura doesn't heal like us, when she's hurt it takes her a longer time to heal. So she's different, her appearance is even different; she's still Laura though and she is cured."

"That's good. I'm glad Laura found a group that could... that did understand her when we didn't." Markus scratched the side of his face. His own nervous tick that he never minded being noticed. "Is she... has she talked about us?"

Carol shrugged, "Laura never talked a lot about her history before us. She told us how she was cured, but... There are difficulties she's faced alone, before we found her and after. It's not my place to say what those are though. If you want to know, I suggest speaking to her."

Every person there was hoping to learn more about Laura through Carol, as none of them thought that Laura would open up to them now, not after everything that lead to this moment. Though they didn't know deep enough that Laura was glad to see them alive, but her anger was too amplified by her hunger and the Voice to properly tell between her own anger and a different kind of personality changing her.

They all listened and understood Carol's meaning. Somethings are just meant to be shared between one person and those they trust.

Without prodding, Daisy ushered Carol into the storage to find their rations, water, and supplies that would last them the winter. It was all packed and ready to leave when they wanted it too. They had planned to remain in this farm house all through the cold months, but were recently swayed that this house may not keep them as protected as they wanted.

There were more complications that they went over, but instead of remaining with the group, Markus had another idea. He felt he was one person out of the group who was determined to make it right. While the others remained inside to talk to Carol, Markus slipped out through the front door to find Laura.

He saw her sitting on the rocking chair on the front porch. It was an old wooden wicker chair that was in less than ideal condition.

Awkwardly, Markus cleared his throat to gain her attention. All he earned was a weary sideways glance before she refocused on the land in front of them. Taking a few steps toward her, he leaned against the porch railing facing to Laura.

He gave her a sweet smile, an expression that told her many things about what he was thinking. He was anxious, clearly he wanted to get something out. Laura was not in a listening mood, but Carol had done well to relax her somewhat. She would not mind being around the group, so long as they did not get too close to her.

She noticed a lack of this hunger feeling with the group though, almost as strong as the control she gained when putting that gun to her head. There was fear of being caught and killed; survival was the grounds for all her actions. Not even the Voice inside her could argue that.

"So..." He started, instantly getting a testing stare from Laura. "... You had quite the wild ride, huh? We know the feeling, once we got out of Atlanta we had no idea what to do. No safe zones, no military; we were pretty lost."

Laura leaned back in the chair, she was quite interested on knowing where the group had gone while Laura was with Rick and his group. They seemed to have come a long way if they crossed paths again.

"We started heading North first, but that didn't turn out to well, so we kinda went in circles for a bit. Until we found a stretch of countryside that barely had one shuffler in it. It was nice for a while, suppose that made us a little complacent. What with the herd coming this way now." Markus rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "We, uh, caught up with another, larger group. They seemed alright at first..."

Laura nodded, "Ended badly?"

Markus, pleased she was actually speaking with him, smiled back to her before clicking his tongue. "You could say that... Group was a little... rattled, I guess is the best word for it. They figured that it was alright to eat people and even harvested their own members and anyone they came across. Well, Daisy in there was pretty enough to get noticed by one of the head honchos of that group and they ended up not eating us, but inviting us for dinner."

"Can't imagine that went over well." She huffed, still remaining a bit distant from Markus. Which he was expertly focused on getting her full attention.

"Daisy didn't like the guy either, he was not the... handsomest of fellas. He would insist on her hanging around, but we always went together, we watched each others backs even in the large group. Especially when we found out that he was really starting to push his luck with Daisy." Laura's eyes shot to Markus, forming an alarmed question. "No- he never touched her. He was just really pushy about it, eventually got bad though. She came back to find Braddock talking about how he had tried to keep her in the sheds a lot of the people lived in. He had one to himself and he was threatening her and the group. Daisy got away and, well, Braddock is a big guy. Bigger than the guy that liked Daisy, that's for sure."

"So you all got out of there alright, I'm guessing?" She did not see anyone with missing parts or large scars. Each one of them seemed to be in decent health, excluding the one missing member that is.

Markus shrugged, "Aside from how hard it was to escape them, yeah... But the herd had caught up with us. Those cannibals survivors... they got overrun after that. We know a lot of them made it out, but they took some significant losses that's for sure. In our rush... Well, we had to keep going for days. Everyone was tired and hungry. We rarely got a place or time to sleep before the herd found us. It just got so bad that, after so long without really any food or rest, the herd caught us exhausted and... Elizabeth was bit." He spoke softly, his sister's passing was not an easy subject. Laura sighed to herself, a lot of people were lost during and after the outbreak.

"I'm sorry that you lost Elizabeth, Markus." She voiced her thoughts, but there wasn't much she could say to help him. Instead, she remained quiet to let him continue the story.

"Thanks." He winked at her, in attempt to show that he was fine, but it was too clear that he was still hurting. "After that, we knew we had to find some way to rest. We weren't so lucky to find a place though. After a few more weeks, we came across another group. This time we didn't want to deal with them, we were too weak to resist if they weren't friendly. So we spent a lot of time trying to avoid them, step around places they looted, dodge them on the roads."

Laura raised a brow, "Did you ever meet this group to know?"

"Nah, I mean... we overheard somethings and _saw_ some pretty bad shit they did." Markus shivered, "We knew meeting up with them was a bad idea. They were armed to the teeth with automatic weapons; even mounted guns on military trucks. They were serious guys. Red and I went to watch the area once while the others were sleeping and saw them gunning other survivors down without even speaking to them. It was messed up."

"Sounds like you have a harder time with people than you do walkers." She smirked lazily, "My group on that farm, we just had a good life there... Only mistake we made was making too much noise. The herd came right at us then."

"That sucks. This place was a good find, it's the first real stop we've ever made. No undead bastards get in and we keep watch all day every day." He scanned the field, the brick and iron fence was in top condition.

"Except for the gate." Laura added, pointing to the one entrance. "It's unsecured. If a group wanted in, they could get by easy."

He nodded, "Yeah, but we watch everything that goes on. It's hard to be ambushed when there's only one entrance and we have a perfect view of it." The could both easily see the gate, still closed, and no signs of any survivors or walkers. "What that group did was surround other survivors, distract them, then just roll over them from all sides. No cover, no defense."

"It's not impossible to break in here. You said they had military vehicles with mounted guns." She mused, "They could just reverse through the gate and open fire. Big guns like that would knock the house down. No need to surround the house when all they have to do is overpower you."

Markus gave her an amused look, "Second guessing our temporary home?"

"I just like to be safe." She answered easily, there was nothing more important than keeping the group covered. "If it means making sure I have a way to escape if we're overrun, then I'll do it."

"I agree. That's why we do have a way out. On the far side of the house, opposite of the entrance gate, there's a few iron bars of the fence we took out. They're slotted in place now, but if we needed to go, we have it set up to where we can just pull them out and get away. We put it where the small patch of tree and overgrown garden is so it's hard to see." He explained, they had already planned for the worst.

With a frown, Laura remembered seeing that the iron was strong and had not yet rusted over. "How did you manage to knock whole iron bars loose?"

Markus chuckled at her confusion, "We have a blowtorch. Another part of the plan is to set the house on fire so if that group, or a different, equally unfriendly group tries to get in here; we have a distraction too."

"Good, I hope it works. Eventually someone is going to notice this place and try to get in." It was more likely than not; survivors were everywhere now, looking for whatever could provide even the most limited amount of sanctuary from the undead.

"We know. There's no intentions on staying here too long, we just needed to rest. Our feet were blistered and cut up from all the running and moving... We had no time to scavenge anything. Though while staying here, we did get lucky and hit up a little old warehouse a few miles from here that went untouched... for the most part. Covered in shufflers, but we took care of that. Got inside and behold the fruits of our labor! There was a lot of spoiled food and useless junk in there. Had to wear shirts and stuff around our faces so we didn't get sick."

"You guys definitely got a stroke of luck then. Carol's been surviving on scraps, whatever I can find I get her to eat, but it's not enough to keep her strength up all the time... She tries though, I know. She works so hard to keep up." Laura looked down to the wooden porch, "Carol's a strong woman, always pushing herself to be better or to fight harder. I admit I didn't think she'd be the surviving sort after everything that's happened, how she was before, but she changed. I think she could make it on her own."

"Carol seems like a good woman." Markus offered kind words, "I'm sure she'll make it back to y'all's group."

He watched Laura for a moment and while he was pleased she had actually spoken to him, he could tell she had underlying issues that she was dealing with. There was a break in the conversation that the sounds of birds and insects filled. It was did not feel tense, for that Markus was grateful for, but he still wanted to speak with her.

"Laura... I'm getting the sense... that you're not going back to that group." He said lowly, trying to be considerate and give Laura a way to escape if she wanted it.

For a second, Laura glanced off to the side, her expression reading one of distress. "I can't. There's things... things I can't fix and going back to the group wouldn't help. I can't go back to them, but I will get Carol there if I can."

"Why aren't you going back?" Markus was curious. They both had come so far to find their group as it was, he could not imagine passing up the chance to rejoin.

Laura stared straight at him, "You can see what I am, but you don't understand what it means."

"I thought they took you in, accepted you regardless of... um, all _that_." They had covered this part already. The group was good to Laura and Carol, there was no given reason why Laura's current state would cause problem.

"They did. I told Rick and he defended me when the rest found out. I explained it to them and all of them agreed with Rick, except one man. No one liked that man, Shane was his name. He was kind at first, when I met him. After they found out about me, things got bad." She turned her face to the healing bruise on her cheek. It was faint now, almost gone completely if the skin was not so discolored. "He nearly killed me more than once, but each time Rick and the others were there to help me."

" _Fuck_. What did they do about it?" Markus could barely tell the bruise was even there, it was no longer inflamed so it did not stand out.

"Slap on the wrist. We didn't want to kill anyone, it was still taboo to us. Murdering another living being was... not acceptable. Eventually though, things got bad and the herd came. I helped who I could... I intended on leaving them for good that night." She admitted. Carol knew already, yet Laura still hated knowing that Carol would have to struggle out in the world alone with Laura.

Markus' eyes narrowed, "They didn't do anything to him? Not even... lock him away or something? I would've left too."

"I left... because I knew I was a risk." She corrected, "I have my own problems that come along with being... this. I ended up saving Carol from the herd; she had gotten separated from the others and everyone had left. So I pulled her out of the herd and we've been following them ever since."

He listened carefully, before giving her a sad look and a slight smile. "Problems with being cured, as you said."

"Just... I have instincts that are stronger to me than they are to you. I don't do things normally anymore, some part of me has split from who I am and has made me into something I'm-" She ran a hand on the side of her face. "It's hard to explain. I'm safe, so long as you're protected."

"Are you saying that... you still got shuffler things going in your head?" He was trying to make sense of her almost cryptic answers.

Laura licked her lips, "I'm saying that something is changing me and it's not for the better. I don't know what's happening, all I know is that I'm going to find our group, bring Carol to her daughter, and then I'll just... disappear."

Markus looked at her worriedly, but remained mute. He was not sure if that meant Laura was dying or turning. Either way, he supposed, she was doing as she said and Carol would make it to their group.

"Who am I to argue?" He made smiled subtly, "I won't judge you, not like before. If you think you're, er, turning or something like that. I'm not going to do something stupid, not again. You do what you have to, keep Carol safe, keep yourself safe. I'll be here if you need anything at all, as long as you're here."

She did not answer and was not looking at him. Markus assumed that meant she was done talking, though she just barely nodded to let him know she heard him.

"I'll do what I can to help you and Carol. I know you can't forgive us and maybe you shouldn't. That won't stop me from trying to earn it though." With a sad smile, Markus left Laura on the porch and headed back in the house.

Once the screen door shut and she heard the door close behind it, Laura leaned over and rested her head in her hands.

They were being good to her and Carol, offering shelter and protection all to make up for what happened back in Atlanta. Even Markus, who had lost his sister, was still trying to make a difference to Laura. She wanted them to still hate her, to ignore her, some act that gave her a more permanent reason to hate them back.

With Markus trying so hard to prove that they were different now, Laura could feel herself reeling back through her own guilt. She wanted to welcome them back into her life with open arms; her anger was fading more into obscurity.

This did not mean that Laura felt herself to be safer. There was a significant risk they all braved when they were around her.

She still had to tame this hunger inside her before she ever could rejoin any group. It hurt her to know that, while they were willing to accept her back into the group and Rick would too, she could not return the kindness they showed her.

A new, angrier creature inside her was just threatening to come out. Laura could not hold back forever, resisting this hunger only caused her more suffering, which whittled down her resolve slowly.

There would come a time that Laura would finally break and she was pleading with herself that when it happened, no one was around to see.


	40. Quadragínta vale scriptor

Once they had all relaxed after meeting Carol and welcoming Laura back, they had settled back into their routine. Carol was included in the routine, helping Daisy and Markus handle the weapons by reloading magazines and cleaning. It was a little different to Carol, but she caught on quickly.

As it got darker outside, Laura remained on the porch keeping watch. Occasionally someone came out to check on the watch shift, offer to take over, then be turned away by a simple " _I don't sleep_ " final answer from Laura.

Though Laura was dismissive of the group, she was actually rather pleased that she did not have to worry about Carol for a few days at least. It was a good rest stop for the rest of the trip, Laura would not waste it. For as long as they had with this group, Laura was going to make sure Carol could catch up on all the days of sleep she missed, all the times when Laura knew Carol was exhausted from a long day of walking.

She sighed, this was going to be a long, quiet few days. If she was lucky of course.

However, as Laura looked around, she realized how much time had passed since this morning when she ran into Markus, almost with her machete.

It was dark out now, but she had since noticed that her sight was able to adjust to day and night better. During the day, she felt as though lights like the headlights of cars or a flashlight looked like lens flare and when it was significantly bright out, it was as if everything was bathed in bloom effect. At night though it was more relaxing. There was more to see at night, the reflection of light of the moon, depth and deep shadows, filled with such extreme detail that she did not see at day.

At daytime, Laura tried to look up to the sky where the sun was at, but the brightness and heat forced her to look away. Back when she was human Laura remembered that people could look at the sun and there was not much of a problem, unless she stared at it for a long period of time. Now, she couldn't even look near it before her eyes stung.

During the day, Laura would have to be more careful. At night, Laura could hunt and clear the area of walkers. The obvious problem of traveling at night was because Carol would be unable to defend herself as effectively and risked a lot more if they went out at night. Laura could still function at day, but was more able bodied at night.

While daytime was a little trickier for Laura, Carol had learned a lot since they had started traveling together. Carol was proficient with a gun, even though they had rarely ever needed it against walkers or survivors. She had also begun taking hunting lessons from Laura; the thought of that was enough to make Laura recoil in shock. It was not long ago that she had hunted her first squirrel with Daryl's crossbow. Took tracking lessons from Rick in the woods. Even learned how to skin and gut so that they could have a steadier supply of food.

She rested her head on the tall wooden chair, still overlooking the land in front of the house. It had been a long while since she thought about Daryl. Not that she did not care about him or what they had together, she just had too much weighing on her to worry about him. He was a survivor through and through, before and after the outbreak. Without a doubt in her mind she knew Daryl was still alive, having survived the farm and life dodging the herd.

She missed hunting with Daryl, going out in the woods with him, or sitting by the campfire. There was a part of her that even missed laying in the cot with him when he slept. While neither of them stepped into the more intimate side of their relationship, she gained comfort knowing he was near. She wished she did need sleep back then, so she would know what it felt like to awake with someone beside her. It was not a feeling she ever remembered experiencing.

With a groan, she knocked her head on the chair. So much of her memory was lost or hidden from her, all because the Voice wanted to manipulate everything about Laura to make her more agreeable to its suggestions. The Voice was quiet for the most part, but sent that hunger distracted her from whatever the Voice wanted. It no longer mattered what the Voice said to her or what it asked her to do; Laura had control in dire situations so she did not worry about what it was doing.

Gaps in her memory told her there was a lot she still could not recall. As of this moment, she noted, she remembered a large portion of her life that she spent living with her alcoholic, drug abusing mother. She knew what happened too. Her mother was 17 when she got pregnant with Laura, then married Laura's father. Only when Laura was seven months old, her mother divorced her father, demanded child support, and won full custody of Laura.

This was because her mother threatened to accuse Laura's father of rape and domestic abuse. When he realized he could not win, after she had intentionally bruised herself up to provide ' _evidence_ ' against him, he lost rights to his daughter and most of his life savings; he backed off to use the legal system to do whatever he could to get Laura back. After nearly twelve-years of an abused life, her father finally won. None of this information came to Laura easy. She had found out about what her mother had done to her father by finding letters between them and studying up on the court case that followed.

Last Laura knew about her mother, she had served her time for child abuse and neglect, then, when she was done with all convictions and legal matters; she moved to another state entirely. This was something Laura was happy about for a long time.

Her father treated her well, perhaps too spoiled after he saw what conditions Laura had lived in and listened to her tell countless times of broken fingers, belts, and beer bottles. When she was old enough to understand, Laura knew he was trying to make up for the time she was unable to spend just being a child. He bought her whatever she asked for, took her to festivals and even took her to a few concerts. Laura was loved, cared for, and healed by her father.

Tears stung in her eyes but did not fall, her face twisted into a frown attempting to stop herself from crying over her father. There was so much he did for her, even when he lost his job and so much of his own living to win Laura back and defend his name from the witch of a woman her mother was. Thankfulness would never cover how indebted she felt to her father.

Over time she came to understand what he did for her, how much he sacrificed for her. He would tell her that he had no choice, but she knew stories of parents who abandoned trying to reclaim their children for much less. His image in his work field had taken a mighty blow until he proved himself innocent and brought his daughter back home with him.

He worked at the CDC when Laura lived with him. She would spend hours listening to him talk about some new exciting thing or complain about his bosses' unreasonableness. She did not mind if he vented his troubles to her; they were close, she considered him her best friend.

She had experienced hurt in this undead ruled world. The experiments on her, which she could not understand why he did it, but she utterly forgave him already. The men who violated her for days on end and beat her. This group that had nearly killed her. Breaking her leg, struggling with her walker-likeness. The encroaching fear of being alone in the world.

There was nothing to compare the aching pain she felt when she thought about how she left her father, the man that gave up whatever life he had, to fight for her and bring her to a safe home where she first felt truly loved by someone. It crippled her to know that there was a likely chance that her father died out in this terrifying new world. People did not survive long without a group after all and she hated knowing it to be true.

"Hey." Snapped out of her thoughts, Laura turned to stare menacingly at the man who approached her. It was Micheal, someone in this group that had not spoken to her since her return. He had not said a word to either her nor Carol now that she thought about it.

He held his hands up in defense, noting her threatening look. He also noticed how her eyes reflected light like a cat's eye would. "Whoa, whoa. I come in peace."

Taking a deep breath through her nose, she returned her focus to watching the landscape for trespassers and walkers. She would not acknowledge him first, he would carry the weight of any conversation they had. In a way, this small discomfort she caused those who tried to speak to her was a bit of retaliation on her part.

"It's a nice night. No storms; ain't even that cold." He gave her his usual grin, one that made Laura want to tell him to eat dirt, but she was not here to instigate rivalry. Laura held in her own laugh, she did not want to break her cold exterior to them.

Micheal was sweet on her, just like she told Daryl. She did not know if he would try again and she sincerely hoped he was competent enough to know that she would not flirt with people who tried to kill her.

"I don't remember you ever having that look before." He spoke softly. Laura decided that most certainly was a _shit eating grin_ and she barely resisted smacking it off of him. Carol would tell her that she should not do that and he was most likely just trying to be nice. Which, most likely, he was doing just that.

Laura could not tell if she really cared or not.

"You always smiled a lot, stuttered too. It was cute. Though I do admit I like this new you, much more... _femme fatale._ " She resisted a loud, annoyed groan and opted to send him another, sharper glare.

He took that hint quickly and waved her off, "Alright, I get it. No need to stab me to death." He blinked and stared shocked at himself. She knew he was referring to her glaring daggers at him, but it was still a rather unintelligent thing to say.

" _Shit_ , I mean... Sorry." He sighed, "I guess I just don't know how to talk to you anymore. I feel like if I act different I'll be disrespecting you somehow... or something. Ah hell, I dunno'. Just wanted to see how you were out here all alone without freaking you out. Sorry that I'm coming off like an ass, I was hoping to be helpful."

She was still staring at him without saying a word. He was hoping she would contribute to his statement, expecting her to say that it was _alright_ or even if she was extremely offended he would prefer her to voice her annoyance with him.

Yet there she sat, a machete on her lap; silent at the grave.

He did not make much headway with her as she continuously gave him this unnerving predator-like stare; her eyes reflecting moonlight directly into his own eyes. It was almost alarming how she looked now; he would never dare say it to her, but she did look like an animal now and less like another human being. Not that her appearance was offensive to him, just that he would have to do a double take to tell her from a walker.

A strangely healthy looking walker though; he thought, so there was that.

"I suppose that was a mistake... I'll just go back inside. You know where to find us if you need us." He started to head depressingly back inside the house until he heard her released a deep breath.

"You can stay."

Micheal smiled instantly, but was still tentative about approaching her. When he sat down, he carefully plotted any conversation to have with her. He wanted to talk to her, to get close to her as he had done before. It was a matter of getting her to relax around him first.

"Y'know, everyone missed you a lot. I remember Daisy and Melanie crying after Red told us you had... that you were gone... I really missed you too, Laura. It was... hard knowing that we lost you, especially now knowing that it was a mistake." He gave her a longing look, one that went by completely unnoticed by Laura. "I always wondered what it would be like if you were still with us."

He hoped she would listen to him and reply, but she did not even look at him. His expectations went unmet with the few words he thought would initially catch her attention. To earn this, he would try another route. He knew she liked him before, yet he wanted that to have extended beyond their parting so many months ago.

In an odd way, Micheal was unsure how he felt towards the seemingly new Laura. During the few days they were together in the group, Micheal had enjoyed Laura's company more so than he may have wanted to. Some inside voice told him it was because he had not seen another willing woman to respond to his flirtatious moves.

He shifted closer to her, leaning on the armrest. "Between you and me, I was always hoping that somehow we'd find you again and you'd be alright. To us, thinking you had- well, turned, that was impossible and tried to convince ourselves that we'd never see you again. I always thought about you though; those nights by the fire. I don't know if you do too."

Laura's head slowly and menacingly turned to glare at him with reflecting, sharp eyes. He could not tell if she was angry or still upset about what had happened earlier in the morning. Red did try to show her they regretted their actions, yet Laura was less than understanding.

"I hope you are not saying what I _think_ you are saying." Her dire tone was enough to warn him that he was crossing into unwelcome territory.

A bit nervously, Micheal ran a hand through his hair. "Things ended bad, I know. I just wanted to tell you that... what Red said is all true of course. I... actually like this new you." He smiled appreciatively at her appearance. Regardless of how strange, almost alien she looked; Micheal found her uniqueness rather attractive. He rested a hand gently on her hand at the edge of her armrest.

Her sneer and growl told him that she was less than pleased. "You are part of them, as bad as they are. You stood by and did nothing when they made their attempt to murder me. I hold no more affection for you than I do for any undead bastard wandering around out there." She slapped his hand away and stood angrily.

"Laura-!" He rose with her, stopping her by putting his arm in front of her. It was not to intimidate her, just to pause her for a moment. "What happened before was terrible. I can't make up for it, not unless you let me. Maybe you never forgive us, but we're here, together again. We can start over, actually start something real."

She recoiled away from him. "I really, really do not want you, Micheal. You were some guy doting on a random girl you met. She was shy, afraid, and suffering. Now I've improved. I'm strong alone, I can survive, and I have enough respect for myself to know that you're not worth my time."

Laura stormed away, leaving the porch completely as Micheal remained. He had not seen that coming, though he had two scenarios in mind; a good one and a bad one. In both situations, he would try again in the future. In hopes of impressing her enough to allow him back into that part of her life.

* * *

_**Seventeen Days Later...** _

After a long while together, Carol and Laura integrated almost perfectly into the group. Red was more than helpful when it came to setting up a new rationing schedule for them all based on Carol's need for food and Laura's less than need of food.

Their time at the house was drawing to an end and they all knew it. Laura was anxious to move on to find their group and Carol had begun to feel the same, she despised the idea of being away from her daughter much longer. Even though they knew it would take a long time before they found their group, if at all.

Red was respectful enough, yet there was no discussions about when Laura and Carol would leave just yet. Carol had finally healed from her blistered feet and made up for the nights she lost. Now, rested and awake, Carol was thinking about the trip Laura and her would have to continue to ever reach their goal.

Things had been going well for them, the group remained together and protective at all times. Nothing had come through the fence, it was relaxing to feel that they did not have to keep running from the herd for a few days. Laura was not intending on rushing away form the group while Carol regained her strength.

So far Laura and Carol did a large portion of the work in the group. Carol insisted it was to pay the group back for their hospitality. Laura did so because she wanted Carol to be safe and feel ready to move on sooner.

Up until a point, none of the group had bothered Laura. Though she was able to clearly note the many, many times that Micheal attempted to impress her by delivering her rations to her in a _fanciful_ way. He would 'dine' with her at night and greet her early in the morning. When doing work around the house, such as checking the fence for obstruction or damage; Micheal would always try to be there. _  
_

Only rarely did they come across an iron bar that needed to be fixed. Laura carried the blowtorch when conducting these checks to make sure nothing would happen to it without anyone knowing. At first, Micheal wanted to teach her how to use it by fixing one of the bars. He had burned himself in his work as he had not paid attention. Laura was quick to repair the fence and move on.

Some of the group and Carol would come around and interrupt Micheal's flirtatious attempts on Laura. This was perhaps the only time she was grateful to have anyone around. Markus had stopped by a few times, sometimes offering Laura water and food, or just to visit. Micheal was clearly displeased with Markus' generosity.

There was definitely some battling going on between the two men, as she overheard Micheal asking Markus why he was always stepping in the middle of Micheal and Laura's 'conversations.' Markus defended himself promptly by telling Micheal he was just being nice and ignored Micheal's questioning looks.

All of this time, Laura had not mentioned her and Carol's group or Laura's relationship with Daryl. If not for her walker-side making her life with humans difficult, she would have told Micheal that she was with someone already. However, because of her change and leaving the group, Laura expected talking about Daryl would not help her nor Micheal. She preferred not to discuss her personal life with this group.

Carol was more than happy to explain that Laura's condition put her in a strange place when it came to dealing with people outside the group. It was an excuse muddled with both lies and truth in order to conceal Laura's true struggle with herself as an intelligent walker now, but they bought into it well enough so neither of them felt like meddling further with the topic without need.

While Laura and Carol separately began thinking about moving on, Red's group was already doing the same.

"Hey." Laura heard a particularly small feminine voice creep up from behind her. She saw Daisy waving mutely to her, her eyes asking permission to approach. Laura had felt less confrontational with the group than before; instead of turning the small woman away, Laura gave her permission. With a few small steps, Daisy stood right beside Laura.

Laura had not done much else aside from protecting the group, occasionally venturing beyond the fence to clear walkers that got too close or had too much of an inkling about survivors living there. Other than that, repairing the fence, and keeping watch nearly all hours of the day and night; Laura could be easily found in a particular spot overlooking the overgrown green yard in front of the house. She eyed that gate as if something were to break through at any moment.

"It's been a long time since we've talked really." Daisy crossed her arms, hands holding her elbows. She was wearing a thin medium-sleeve sweater, Laura was surprised she was not shivering. "I sometimes try to gather up the gall to talk to you, but all I can think is ' _I tried to kill that woman, what ever could I say to her?_ "

With a long side look, Laura questioned the woman silently. She avoided seeming too unapproachable anymore, the part of her that gave her that fiery rage had long since quieted down. It was still there and, just as Laura said to Rick once, she did not want to understand... Yet she also recalled telling Glenn that she did. Mostly, as only Laura knew her deepest thoughts, she was being petty, but she was not being unreasonable about almost being murdered.

Daisy sighed softly, "I feel like, just because I can't say or do something that proves I am regretful, that I don't deserve to talk to you. Almost like how castes were back hundreds of years ago. Somehow I started noble, but lost my privileges. Now I'm just stuck bowing my head to the people I used to be friends with, people above me." She gave a humorless laugh, "I feel like I've been ostracized by the person others ostracized. Like it's all backwards, we're being shunned for attempting to spurn the person most people would do the same too. I'm having a hard time understanding where that puts me."

Laura looked down to the tall grass before them, she was unable to share experiences with almost killing an innocent person. She could relate to the shunning, she felt like an outsider even with Rick and the others. Regardless of how many times people showed her that they were accepting of her situation and trusted her; she always felt different to them all. There was a barrier between right and wrong for everyone and everything... Only Laura's barriers were stricter and placed on her without amble room for her morals to be taken into account.

It was something she could live with back then, but it changed being alone again. She had all the freedoms she wanted and no one to share them with. It both excited her and broke her heart. Being stuck out here with Carol once again removed those freedoms, yet she had already resigned herself to the idea. Laura's barriers were blurred, she could no longer remember where the lines were and how not to cross them.

"Maybe I'm just... not a good person deep down anymore. Maybe I've never been. My parents were wealthy, we lived pretty comfortable lives. My dad had a hard upbringing before marrying my mom. After that he was able to get the education that he could never afford and lived the life he dreamed of. He made sure my mom knew how much he loved her and thanked her." Daisy took a deep breath in, "Up until she died giving birth to Melanie. He was a good dad, took care of us and made sure Melanie never felt responsible."

Laura remembered that, Daisy had once told her that their family was relatively happy and picturesque. It was a good thought to keep close, knowing that they had a good life before the outbreak.

"I dunno, I never felt like this whole _zombies are real_ thing ended the good years of our lives. I feel like we're better than this, stronger somehow. People have fought off a lot through history, even fought themselves and made it to the other side." She placed her hands on the old wooden rail and leaned forward. "Even though the world is so dangerous, I feel like I'm still having a good life. I can anyways, if I make it one. I just have to fight hard enough and someday, Melanie will be able to play like a little girl again."

Laura shifted on her feet, the automatic weapon the group had lent her for guard duty felt a little heavier. She did not understand where this confession about her life was coming from, but she would not stop Daisy. Before, people would tell Laura their problems and she would offer her help when or where she could, even if all they needed was someone to talk about it with. Laura did not feel as if she had to stand here and let Daisy put her personal life in the open. At the same time, she did not want to diminish Daisy's suffering through the outbreak.

"Over time I felt more and more like... this is it. This is my life now. I accept it fully, I will survive as long as my body is able. I refuse to leave Melanie in this uncertain world." She leaned on one arm, turning to the side to look at Laura's reaction. "My father is gone, my mother too. I was a top student, almost all straight A's. I lead a successful life and never had to deal with debt or whether or not I could afford food for the week on my salary. I guess I was that one percent that never struggled. Now, in this crazy place, I know that if I do all I can then I can succeed. I've never been adverse to hard work and I have my own laundry list of problems. But there is nothing more important in this world to me than Melanie. I would give up my own life if it meant she would be safe, without hesitation."

Laura came to look at Daisy beside her. She did not dare move as Daisy recounted her story in greater detail than Laura had ever known it to be. There was more in Daisy's admission of her life, it was also her hopes and dreams in a way. She was unsure how to respond to her, how to explain that she had been listening.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" It was the only thing Laura could think to say. She did not know what moved Daisy enough to talk to her like this.

Daisy gave Laura a delicate smile, "I may not know much about you, about where you came from or who you are. But I nearly ended that. I almost allowed you and everything that makes you who you are to be erased permanently. It frightens me even now that I could do such a thing. I know I would kill anyone for hurting Melanie, no questions about it. All you ever did was help and be our friend. In a moment, without even thinking about it, I was ready to forget all of that out of blind fear. I usually ask, dig, learn; anything to create an idea of what's happening at any time. I didn't that time. The one time someone needed that from me most and I failed."

She did not feel awkward, but compelled to comfort Daisy. There was so little that could ever be done to apologize to someone they almost killed and so little that Laura wanted them to do, if anything at all.

Somehow this made the tensity Laura felt around the group release. With a sideways glance back towards the front door of the house, Laura swung the automatic on her shoulder, the strap holding it in place behind her arm. She unzipped her heavy jacket and shuffled it off, replacing the gun's strap on her shoulder. Turning the jacket in her hands, she brought it across Daisy's shoulders.

A little taken off guard by the gesture, Daisy closed the jacket over her, bringing a hand to twist the long fur of the jacket between her fingers. Daisy smiled sadly at Laura before stepping forward quickly and hugging Laura. Her arms around Laura's neck and her weight pressing against the best of Laura's balance. Stunned by the sudden hug, Laura took a moment to actually respond by cautiously putting her hands on Daisy's back halfway returning the hug.

"I may never be able to make it up to you, to get you to forgive me or any of them. But even if I do that, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself." She pulled back and Laura could see her glossy eyes and reddened nose. She was resisting crying on Laura's shoulder.

Laura turned around, to the two person swing chair on the porch and brought Daisy along. When she sat down, Daisy sat beside her, closely and holding onto Laura's arm. It felt a little strange to have someone so close to her again, yet she welcomed Daisy's form of comfort.

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Laura pushed the chair to swing a little. It was late and she was unsure how long Daisy was willing to stay awake for her. Laura felt Daisy's hands on her arm tighten slightly, bringing Daisy to lean on Laura's shoulder and Laura rested her head on Daisy's. It was how they relaxed back at camp when they traveled in Atlanta. They often stayed together at the end of the day with Melanie. Laura had nearly considered Daisy as a sister she never had, kind, and always talking about the next interesting thing.

"My mother had divorced my father soon after I was born. She mistreated me; neglect, abuse, and just about anything that came to mind for her. I never was able to start my life with a good education or a loving family. When I was almost twelve-years old, my father was able to fight her and win custody of me. I lived a good life with him, he took care of me, made me feel like I had a loving family even though it was just me and him." Laura felt it was good to talk to Daisy after she had told her own story.

A little surprised, Daisy was more than ready to know more about Laura. She had never spoken to them about her history, opting to keep herself apart. Daisy had always hoped to know about Laura, it was a better way for her to get close and share the world before the outbreak.

As Laura told her own tale, she felt herself lightening up. Some of her had faded into the background of her mind, where it remained and stayed silent. Her anger at the group, especially at Daisy, had melted away at least temporarily. She talked openly and for a great length, telling her everything that she had never told anyone since she remembered it.

The Voice had been pressing her memories into the deep recesses of her mind, but she finally had them back. Laura would be lying if she said it didn't feel good talking about the good aspects of her life, the ones she wanted to remember and wanted to share.

All the while talking to Daisy, Laura's anger subsided. It was not a long term place, she still felt the creeping doubt of the morality of the group she and Carol remained with now. The relaxation Laura received from sharing a moment with Daisy without thinking about Atlanta, walkers, or their survival was worth more than her resentment.

She did not know how she felt about the group, she would not say she forgave them at all, not even Daisy despite her heartfelt admittance to Laura. It was less stressful now that she did not have to think about all the problems surrounding them for a night.


	41. Start your Engines

_**Five Days Later...** _

Laura sincerely hoped that the group was not considering this.

She stood, arms crossed defensively as she listened to them explain their plans. Carol seemed pleased with it, the more traveling together the safer they all were. However, Laura had not given them any signal that she approved.

It was an impossible situation for Laura. If she refused out of spite to Red and his group, Carol would chastise Laura and they would leave the group less safe than before. If she accepted their plans, than they would travel with Laura and Carol as they searched for Rick and the others. This also meant that Laura would have to fight more in order to keep them safe. Not from other survivors or walkers, but from herself.

Of course, there were many pro's and con's to each side. Laura could fail and hurt Carol, if Carol failed to defend herself, Laura's instincts would take over and kill Carol. That would mean that if the group traveled with them, than if Laura did lose herself, than they would put her down before Carol was hurt badly. There was a higher chance this would happen to any of them if they joined up; Laura could only resist so much for so long.

While the last few days were easier than she anticipated, their close proximity always flared up her struggle against her hunger. At the same time, she did feel as though the hunger was also struggling. The Voice was not ready to get itself killed, but its patience was wearing thin. In the last weeks, the Voice had initially backed off to make room for Laura to act normally within the group. To do anything else would be suicide. This was a boon to Laura at the beginning, yet it became apparent that the Voice was not allowing her this good luck for very long.

Eventually, just as Laura had always been worried about, the Voice would overpower her through the strength of the hunger. It was a roaring beast that Laura could not contain herself, only hold back temporarily. Gradually, over days, the Voice was increasing the hunger ever so slightly. Laura did not know how she would react when the hunger hit its full strength; as Laura understood, she had not yet experienced this while she was cured. Before, in her memories of mindlessness on the table in her father's personal lab, she remembered it.

It was stronger than anything she had ever come across. If the Voice forced that on her, she would be unable to stop herself any longer. This was another reason that coming across Red's group was a good thing, it helped postpone this full strength scenario that played in her head.

Pushing passed all else, Laura was still very displeased when she was speaking to Red about it.

Which was at this very moment. Red was looking at her, studying her reaction to his proposal. He had only just told her that he and the rest were planning on leaving the house as it was getting riskier every day just by staying here. They were hoping that no other survivors ever found them, but it was unlikely that they would even go another two weeks before someone came across this well protected country home. The fence line was enough to grab the attention of any passing survivor.

This also included the groups that they had came across before, the heavily armed group having been sighted not too far away. Red explained that the group they spotted driving in a military vehicle was not but a few miles from this house. It was dangerous to stay here, none of them could rationalize staying for much longer.

The group and Carol had all been so exhausted by the time they found this house that they were unwilling to leave until they were all properly rested and ready to get back on the road, if only to put distance between the hostile survivors and themselves.

Laura wanted to leave one of the first days they arrived, but due to various reasons that she had already considered she remained to protect Carol.

"Well?" Red questioned, it was a viable and good option. Safety was most important at the end of all things, but Laura was having a hard time deciding if it was safer for them to join up and protect each other or for Laura and Carol to continue alone.

"I don't know." Laura had a hard time discussing anything with Red. She ended up keeping her eyes off of him, when she did stare him down, she felt a stronger need to feed her hunger than she had done with most of the others in the group. It was a murderous hunger, one built on both the need to hunt to survive and the desire to kill those who wronged her. This ache for vengeance inside of her was not something her more rational side wanted to encourage.

He nodded, taking a deep breath in and releasing it, his breath was visible in the now even colder weather. Laura noted that it was getting worse out and keeping warm would be harder. Perhaps another benefit to bringing the entire group with them, they would be able to share heat while they had to sleep on the road. Laura hummed to herself, it was just a thought.

"I know, I know." Red said under his breath, "It could help us all. You and Carol are both able survivors. Your hunting skills could help us through some bad spots when we have to worry about food, and out there, we will. We can all help each other, survive together. Whether or not you like us anymore is... not as important as all of our survival. Carol's included."

Laura did not turn her head, but her eyes flicked to the side to give him a shifty look. Red acknowledged this by putting up one hand in his defense. "I want them to survive, I want to survive, and I want you to survive. We all want to live together, safe, and protected. The more of us there is, the higher chance we have of making it to a secure place to live. If not for however long we have left, than just a home to call our own for a few months."

She gave him a sneer, "I can't even look at you without seeing that room, that knife in your hand."

Red and Laura had not spoken more than the bare minimal words to each other since Laura and Carol arrived. It was a strange moment when they actually spoke, but Laura made sure it was only when necessary. Otherwise, she ignored him and he gave her all the space she wanted. This mutual avoidance never allowed either one to express their thoughts about the incident in Atlanta or how it affected them. Red understood that it hurt Laura much more than it hurt him and his group, yet also realized that the suffering they caused her was unneeded so he never bothered her by how he felt about it.

This was a moot point now, this was not about them personally and more about how all of them will make it in a dangerous world.

"I can't change that, doesn't mean I won't try. I'm just more concerned by how all of us will live. How many of us will endure what's out there. It's going to beat us down, or try to anyways." Red looked over the field with Laura, "This is bigger than us."

"I can see that." Laura huffed, "Doesn't mean I much care for it."

"You lead Carol where you both need to go, maybe you find your group... maybe you don't. It's hard to find anything out there so you know it won't be easy. There could be anything out there." He pointed out, trying to convince Laura. "I have to take care of my people too. If you never find your group, than you'll need someone there over time. You both can't survive on your own forever, you will have to find some kind of permanence with a group."

"I won't risk Carol to save any of you." Laura brought up, "If there is ever a situation where it is Carol or any of your group. I will choose Carol above all."

Red tilted his head back slightly, looking down to her as he considered the implications. There were more likely to be problems on the road, many in fact. Red could barely keep up with the trouble they had before. It was complicated and Red put no fault on Laura for this, it is an acceptable trade off. He and his group could protect themselves, but no one wanted to leave Carol and Laura behind.

"I can deal with that. So long as we all protect each other. If it ever comes down to one of us or Carol, I can help my own people. Just... on the road, we watch each others backs." He held his hand out, offering it as a conclusion to this discussion.

Her eyes narrowed on Red, suspicious of him. Begrudgingly, she accepted the offer and shook his hand. "Carol is more important to me than anything else in this world right now, she must make it to her daughter; I don't care how it happens or when, so long as she does."

"You care an awful lot for someone who acts like she doesn't care at all." He gave a knowing smile. Carol meant more to Laura than she ever dared to say out loud and she defended her privacy with Carol with deadly force.

Laura merely shrugged his statement away. "It was Carol's daughter who was lost in the woods. She was bitten and died in those same woods before we ever found her." Red frowned, his own son came to mind. "But I brought that girl back after she had turned. I can do that apparently. They were all so happy to see that little girl alive again. Now, that girl, Sophia, is thinking and feeling the same thing that Carol did when Sophia was missing. I'm gonna' do it twice; bring two people back from the dead."

"Sounds like a bunch of heroics." Red resisted a more sarcastic tone. Half of him was glad to see that Laura was struggling to survive not for herself, but for Carol. The rest of him told him that it was nonsense that would never work; this world was not so kind as to make such miracles happen.

"Yeah, probably." Laura admitted outright, "I don't care. One way or another, Carol will see Sophia again."

"And that's something I can admire. Family is the best thing to have in this world, gives us all something to fight for." Red was reminded of all the family they had lost though and it was almost self defeating. Markus recently losing his sister, Red's own son and parents, Daisy and Melanie's family, and Braddock's girlfriend and siblings.

Laura started to turn to walk away, "You guys going to get ready to go then? You got a plan? 'Cause Carol and I are continuing the same way we were going, whether you join us or not."

"About the bast way at this time. We don't have much of a direction, just the way we were going, but it's not a good idea to just wander into the woods this far out of the city. Who knows what's out there." He sighed, "We can go the way you both were heading, until there's proof that it's too dangerous."

"That we can agree on." Laura finally left Red on the porch, walking away as Red went to start planning with his group. Laura was unsure how willing she was to travel with them, but to deny the additional protection was not a smart move when Carol was the only person that walkers went after. A deeper, darker side of Laura told her that if they were ever overwhelmed, than they could provide a distraction to the walkers while she escaped with Carol.

* * *

It would take a few days before Laura and Carol were ready to travel with the rest of the group. Though they already had been preparing, this was the final step until they left the fenced in home to find a new, safer place away from the other survivors in the area.

They had the plan to leave in two days time. This was to coordinate people, arm them all equally, and explain the direction they would be taking to the entire group. Also to make sure they had the best plan they could possibly come up with, just to be sure that they all agreed on the plan of action. Red voiced his idea to the rest and told them to take the last day at this house to think about it.

For the moment, Laura was checking the are around the house. Markus and Braddock were back at the house keeping watch on the land. She was the only one capable of walking around inside and outside the fence without risk of being hurt. As she had done so in the last few weeks, she went to clear the nearby area of walkers, check for weak spots in the fence, and keep a look out for any sign of survivors too close.

Laura kept herself well hidden while she explored the area around the fence. Usually she would find one or two walkers near the iron bars and kill it. There was never anything more exciting than that. Yet she wore her heavy jacket and she would keep her hood up as she did with her last jacket so as to keep her appearance hidden, but she felt no need to do this when walkers were their only concern now.

She looked down to the fur on her jacket, remembering how Daisy caressed it and remarked how soft it was despite the condition of the jacket. It had blood stains and had not been washed in a very long time. The fur stayed relatively clean and had not yet been exposed to weather or dirt. Laura quickly became attached to it as it kept the chill off her bones and made her feel more comfortable.

It was a decorative piece though, Laura did not need it and only carried it in the beginning in case Carol needed to use it. They carried a few blankets with them now and Carol had a large size coat to wear now anyways.

In order to prepare for their leaving, Carol and Laura had packed their belongings together and had them set at the back door. Laura had tied and wrapped two thinner pieces of blanket to her large belt. One was a piece of sheepskin rug that had seen better days, but functioned as good insulation. The other was an old brown wool small blanket that they used before, but had become too worn down to use as a covering at night. Both of these kept Laura's temperature higher and, as Laura had noticed, the cold had made her numb to any cut or her old injuries.

She would rather remain aware and warmer. The cold even slowed down her reaction times when she remained stationary for too long. To keep moving was a difficult thing when there was no where to go and nothing to do but stare at a gate. So Laura substituted the blankets that they were going to throw away, to keep whatever heat she could take in.

With her machete in hand, she struck down another walker reaching through the iron fence. It could barely even reach its forearm as it leaned over the strong brick base. Laura wiped her machete on her pant leg and moved on. The blowtorch was secured to her back by a modified gun strap that allowed her to have it slung over her back for easy access without having to worry about dropping it when having to cut down a walker.

Out here she did not carry a gun, so as to not even pose the risk of attracting attention of a larger group of walkers or any hostile survivors around. They could remain here for the last day and leave so long as they did nothing to bring anything or anyone to them.

Safety always remained the top priority and, out here shifting through the trees and overgrowth, Laura realized that there was not much out here. The herd had passed them already and none of the large body of walkers noticed that the living were in the house. A few were left behind and dealt with quickly after the herd left sight.

Stragglers were common, but since the herd had left, walkers were even rarer out this far in the countryside. Before Laura and Carol would come across a few every now and then, less than they were used to since they had the experience of Atlanta and the quarry behind them. The country was a little safer were it not for a roaming herd.

It still was not as large as the packed streets in Atlanta had though. They could literally touch one building on the far side of the street to the next with no space in between. Laura was glad they did not have to navigate the city anymore, especially not when it was just Laura and Carol alone. Too many things could go wrong that none of them expected.

There was always a chance that something happened beyond their ability to control. Laura would do whatever she could, but there was a limit to her usefulness. With the rest of the group coming with them, it reduced this chance for something to go wrong. She knew it was a good thing and still hated the idea of having to deal with them all.

Laura had decided to just let what was going to happen, happen. Carol would appreciate the company even though Laura already fought to keep them safe from herself. Carol knew the pressure Laura was under and also knew that they would need help to survive out there. It was too dangerous alone and exhausted Carol to continue on anymore.

While they would still tire themselves out at the end of the day, they had a higher chance to find food, shelter, and keep a steady time to rest as more than one person needed it. The group joining them also made Carol relax when she thought about all the times she needed rest and Laura did not. It would provide a better reason to have longer rest stops and Carol would not feel so tired by the end of the day.

The benefits would all appear to them in time, but for the moment, they were relaxed knowing it was almost time to leave the house.

Laura cleared out a few walkers while circling the fence. There were not many out, the few that were would have most likely just walked passed the house without ever knowing the group was there. The danger was passing them by and remained ignorant to their existence. It was a good sign that they were able to stay quiet and avoid detection.

She sighed, bored as she explored the area. There was nothing abnormal, not even the fence line showed any recent rusting or damages. It was cold, bright, and windy out. A few walkers here or there, none of them excited or noisy enough to attract other walkers. Most of the animals that Laura would hunt are harder to find as many have disappeared into their nests for hibernation.

As she saw it, there was not much to do near the house. However, this was not the end of her daily duties. She had to investigate any surrounding areas for other survivors or any potential threats. It could take an hour or two depending on what Laura found or did not find. Occasionally she would take a bit longer than it would actually take just so she could feel a little more in control of herself before heading back to the house.

It was a bit of a freedom that she took advantage of when she could. It would not be every day that Laura went out to check out the local area. When she had this opportunity, it always proved fruitful. She would take a deep breath, sit down, and clear her mind. If she wanted to look into it, she was meditating and it helped her balance her troubled mind. She did not want to explain why she meditated to anyone or that she even started.

For this brief moment where Carol did not need her, the walkers were kept away from the group, and there was nothing hassling her; Laura was calm. The Voice had not bothered her for a while, her hunger subsided for a short time, and there was not a single person leaning on her for support.

In a perfect state of relaxation, Laura listened to the world around her without thinking about a single thing. Her head was clear, no voices or urgency. It was a minimal help to the long term problems she dealt with in the group. This was almost as relaxing as she found being submerged in water was. The few times she experienced it, Laura was in situations where she could not stay to enjoy it. Falling into the creek when the horse threw her and Daryl off and when she tripped over the large ditch and fell into another creek when she was chasing Sophia.

She realized now that resting in water made her feel as though she was almost human again. The feeling of refreshing cold water, weightlessness, and her previous aches and pains dissipated. If she had it her way, she would have a tank full of water to just rest in.

This was as close as she could get to that feeling of perfect clarity. The crisp wind whistling through the trees, a few birds here or there, the crackling of leaves being brushed away with the wind. Not a single interruption to the natural sounds around her.

She was sitting on a fallen tree, the large log enough to hold her there comfortably. Near enough was the gate to the house and she had a view of it through the dense trees and on the far side the road with some abandoned cars far away. It was a road off of the main road they followed before and those cars they had long since scavenged for anything from gas to supplies.

Carol would most likely feel better with Laura around at all times or someone she trusted just as much. Laura still did not want Carol to trust her so much though, there was too much risk behind it.

She groaned at herself, she would worry about all that later. She needed to take herself a private moment, to focus on what was to come and how she was to control it. The Voice was silent, there were no disturbances. With a long draw of breath, she tried to concentrate on remaining calm and collected.

Her acute hearing picked up some animal a little distance away just scurrying around, another sound came from the whine of the trees as the wind pushed and pulled them. The cracking of sticks and leaves as the pattern of footsteps became clear.

Laura's eyes snapped open. In front of her was trees, autumn leaves, and the piles of dead organic debris mixed with various weeds. She could not see the animals she had heard, though they were small and probably further away than she originally thought. She know she heard footsteps, but she was not aware if they were close to her or far.

She rose to her feet cautiously, turning around to look through the trees to find the source. There was a uniqueness to the steps of a person compared to an animals. It called for great concern, there was someone out there and she was unable to see them. Perhaps they had already spotted her? She was not trying to hide herself, there had never been another person out here just wandering the woods.

It exactly copied when she had heard Markus behind her and Carol back on the road. Before anything bad had happened, Laura was able to figure out it was Markus and rejoined the group.

But this felt _wrong._ There was someone out there and she could feel herself tense up. The unfamiliar scent that reached Laura told her this person was not part of the group. " _That's new."_ She frowned, but ignored this development. Her smell could pick up the strange scent, but all that did was tell her what she already knew at this point. An unknown presence was near.

Laura crouched down, she needed to reach the house to alert the others. This was why she was out there, searching for suspicious activity and any danger to the group. All she had to do now is figure out how to return to them without being spotted.

Unless they had already seen her, in which case; it was time to test her hunting skills on another survivor.

Slowly, she inched her way back towards the house. Keeping low to the ground as much as possible, Laura listened carefully for any more footsteps. She made her way through the trees, taking a moment break to patiently wait to see if anything was around her. When she heard the steps first, she was not paying close enough attention to tell which direction the sound was coming from.

They might be quite a ways behind her, just mapping out the area as the person makes their way forward. For all she knew, those steps could have been leading to the house already and she was too late.

The thought wracked her with worry. If someone had already made it to the house... Was it just one person? Was it a group, big or small? Were they armed? Was Carol alright? Laura gritted her teeth and restarted her stealthy trek to the gate.

She watched the path she chose, for anything that would make too much noise. Out of practice in both hunting and survival against enemies. " _Enemies is a weird term for this..._ " Laura thought unfavorably, she had no idea who it was. It was not a walker, the smell that usually followed them; a rancid, corpse stench as anyone could pick up on.

With a huff, she continued, but she kept hearing the footsteps behind her. Laura was almost panicking, she knew the sound was coming from a short distance now. It was a single person, walking at a normal pace from what she could tell. There was nothing to suggest that this person knew she was there and in no way would she risk being seen.

Taking one last look around, Laura could see the outline of another person through the woods. It was one person as she figured and he was carrying a rifle of some sort. While he looked to be alone, Laura would not be surprised if he had company elsewhere. She could see him out there and he had not yet spied her through the woods. Laura felt lucky that the woods, even with a large portion of the leaves having fallen off, still provided excellent cover.

Laura saw the gate clearly now, it was still closed and Laura was swift to slip through the gate and close it behind her.

There were no trees to hide behind on this side of the gate so Laura ran back to the house, expecting the group to spot her on approach. On the porch Laura could see Markus step down the small stairs and had his gun at the ready. She waved just to be sure they knew it was her running to see them and not a walker that figured it out or a stranger barreling down their driveway.

"Laura?" He came forward, meeting her part of the way to the house. "What is it, what's wrong?" He stood beside her, inspecting her for any injuries and was satisfied that he did not find any.

She pointed the house, "Get everyone inside and ready to go, now." She pushed him away by his shoulders. It was urgent enough for Markus to realize that this was not a request. Laura has served as their best watch guard for the last few weeks, her word carried weight with it, even more so in the event of an outside threat to the group. So Markus hurried off to gather the other members that were on watch.

Laura threw the door open and rushed towards the living room and kitchen area. She spotted Carol and Melanie both checking the packs they would all carry when they left. "Carol, keep Melanie here. Grab a gun." Laura appeared so quickly that Carol almost did not notice she had arrived. There was never a use for a gun outside guard duty, so when Carol picked up on Laura's order, she reached for the pistol closest to her and brought Melanie to the far side of the house. Red had made sure everyone knew about the escape plan and Carol was going to make sure Melanie was ready to run if need be.

She left the living room, knowing that Daisy would be upstairs where she usually kept watch on the backyard. A large viewing window that gave her a bird's eye view of the entire backyard was more beneficial than being on the ground.

She stormed up the stairs, sure to grab the attention of whoever else was in the house still. Rushing down the hallway, Laura entered the master bedroom and she saw Daisy with her rifle, windows open, carefully scanning the backyard.

"Daisy," Laura stole her attention away for a moment, "Downstairs now, emergency."

Daisy, who spun around in place and was about to greet Laura, took a moment to process what she had said. Glancing back out through the windows, she spotted Markus having just reached Red in the backyard and spoke to them before they both turned towards the house. Daisy swallowed heavily, something was very wrong and she made a quick check of her rifle before following Laura back down the stairs.

Laura waited until people began to gather in the large open area between the living room and the kitchen. Carol and Melanie were by the backdoor, Daisy just coming down the hallway, and Markus, Red, Micheal, and Braddock all entering through the backdoor.

"What, what is it?" Red was alert, all Markus had told him was that Laura ran in from her perimeter check and told Markus to gather everyone he could. This was not a good sign and made everyone in the room antsy.

Laura looked around the room, making sure everyone was there. "I saw someone in the woods. A man, not a walker. He was armed with a rifle."

The group all shared looks with each other, confusion came to mind, worry, and questions began to form. Firstly, Daisy stepped forward. "Were there any other people?"

"Just one man, alone as far as I can tell. He's not far outside of the gate _right now_." Laura could hear everyone's hearts skip a beat. People were afraid of other people in this world, it could bring all forms of hell down on them. From what Red explained already, they had enough with meeting new groups. _  
_

"If it's just one man, what's the concern?" Markus asked, not to question Laura's urgency, but more to question what it meant to them.

Red crossed his arms and his eyes narrowed, "Could mean a lot. He could be a scout... Was he carrying anything other than a gun? Could help figure out if he really is alone."

Laura shook her head, "He didn't have anything to use as a pack at all. No bags and he didn't look like he was freezing or starving to death. All I saw him holding was that gun and he only had on this sweater..." She sighed, "Means he's most likely to be part of a larger group and he's just looking out ahead for them."

"How do we figure that out?" Daisy frowned in concern, giving only a quick glance to her young sister.

Micheal gestured back to the front door. "Means that if he's out surviving well enough, then he must have food and shelter somewhere. If he's not wearing winter gear, that means he isn't traveling, just looking around. If he had a bag and a coat on, it could mean that he was following the road to find shelter. It is possible that he doesn't have either of these, but that's extremely unlikely. None of us could survive in this weather for very long without a place to stay warm or clothing to keep us from freezing."

"So he's got a place somewhere." Markus stated, "And it can't be too far if he's just in some old sweater. It's getting cold as fuck out at night, no one could survive the cold at night alone, without heavy jackets and blankets anymore."

"This is a problem." Red pressed a knuckle against his temple. "He has a group and they are not far. Even if they were, they're coming this way and that scout is going to tell them about this place. A securely fenced in standing building is too much of a good thing to pass by. They will stop here. We can't assume he's alone... even if we don't have any evidence either way. It's too much of a risk."

"Are we ready to leave tonight? We packed food, water, and necessities to last us and as much as we can carry." Daisy pointed to the packs all set up and waiting to be carried away.

Braddock huffed, "I can carry enough to last us two weeks. We don't need to worry about that. All that we have to figure out is if it's safe to leave right now." Red nodded to him, acknowledging that it may not be the best time.

"Why would we wait? The longer we stay here the more time we give whoever the hell is out there to find us." Micheal loaded his pistol and holstered it in one of the few belt holsters they actually had. "We should get out of here."

"They might spot us." Red was playing as many possibilities as he could in his head. "We don't know where these people could be. If they have an idea we're here, trying to leave during the day would be risky. They could see us, track us; we need to think about the best course of action."

"We can't travel at night! It's dangerous out there." Daisy bit her lip, her hands grasping her rifle closer to her. Walkers could come out of no where even during the daytime. While night during the winter did provide more overall moonlight to see with, walkers were tricky and never easy to spot without some kind of pre-warning; that almost never happened of course.

"Laura can." Carol answered, "I don't know if we... explained how advanced her senses are now. She can see at night, just like it was day. If Laura takes point, she can try to keep an eye out for walkers nearby."

The group turned to look at Laura. Some various aspects of her cured state of being was explained and so much was left circumspect. "Is that true, can you do that for us?" Red asked first, hoping to hear the best answer he could hope for.

"I can see at night, yes. I can't promise that I will be able to pick out every walker if the group spreads out too far. I'm only one person after all." Laura answered to confirm what Carol suggested. It was a possibility, but it would not be easy.

"Then we stick together until either the sun comes up or we find another place to hold up for the night?" Markus posed the option and received a few nods and agreements around the room.

"We can't rest until tomorrow night though. If that guy has a group, then we need a day of traveling to put some room between us and them. Just to be safe." Red heard them all take turns sighing tiredly, no one disagreed and instead was getting ready for a long night. With Laura's good sight or not, there are more things that can go wrong that Laura has no effect over.

The group was nervous, anxious, and all around scared now. Mainly Red and his group has they had found less than optimal groups out there, both not being any better than the other. They had no idea if this man belonged to a new group or was part of one that they had already came across. Either way, they were not willing to find out.

"Everyone get ready, make sure we have what we need; we leave tonight through the back. Just like we talked about." Red set out the plan before them all. "Once it starts getting dark, we leave immediately and we will spend a full day on the road. We eat on the way, no stops at least for a day. Any questions?"

Each person took a moment to think over the plan, look at one another, then shake their heads. Everyone had been listening to this plan for the last few weeks and were practicing drills to prepare for this event. There were no questions about what they needed to do anymore.

"Good. I suggest every eat, drink, and get some rest before tonight. It's going to be a long night and a long day tomorrow."

Laura instantly appeared beside Carol, her expression and approach expressed enough to Carol to explain the concern and watchfulness Laura was already starting before they started traveling again.

The rest of the group started to break up, looking through supplies and taking out their nightly rations each. Daisy and Melanie headed back upstairs, Daisy was going to make sure the girl got enough sleep in to keep her awake for the next day. The little girl, though young and still learning, was rather smart and capable of helping the group out.

Red, Markus, and Braddock stayed in the living room to talk over plans and the progression of tonight's escape.

Ensuring that Carol was taken care of, Laura went back to guard duty. She sat at the front window, watching out of the corner of the window so she could see the gate but no one looking at the house would be able to spot her. Everyone were remaining inside to avoid drawing the attention of the man outside the house. If he spotted the house, he may or may not decide to investigate it.

If he did, they would have to deal with him. If he just went back to his group to tell them it was there, then they might have enough time under the cover of dark to escape without being seen and have a significant head on them.

Laura would remain at this spot until it grew dark out. Everyone else slept, ate, and drank as much water as they could to last them. It would burn them all out to start their first day back out on the road with a full day of nothing but moving forward.

She watched the gate like a hawk, just waiting to see a man on the far side ready to break in and create problems for them. The excitement was getting to her bit by bit, she felt herself rise in anticipation. There was no telling exactly what would happen or how this stranger would react to seeing this house or them inside of it.


End file.
